New Nissan Micra is only the start of ‘bold and impactful’ design future
Nissan design boss admits the Micra lost its design personality in the hunt for global appeal but the new car is the first in a line of Nissans that are more exciting to look at
Nissan is pledging to be “bold and impactful” with its future design direction, with the vice president of Nissan Design Europe Giovanny Arroba telling Auto Express that it’s time for the brand to be a “leader” again.
Having worked for Nissan since 2000, Arroba said he has; “ a similar feeling to when I started in the company, where we have to be bold and impactful to be a leader in the market”.
Arroba, speaking to Auto Express at the Nissan Design Europe centre in London’s Paddington, said the new Micra is a car designed to bring more personality into the brand’s styling. He said that the rounded K12 Micra built until 2002 was a European-focused car, but its replacements were built for a more worldwide appeal and Micra “lost the purity of its personality” as a result.
“It was time to bring that personality back” with the new car, which lands on UK roads early next year, although Arroba hinted that there is plenty more to come, in different ways, with the all-new Juke and Qashqai coming over the next couple of years.
“I think that's important at Nissan, that we don't do a one design and then reshape it and size it on different segments and platforms,” he told us. “This really celebrates the personality of what we think the Micra is, and it gives us a bit of courage and audacity to do that on all the other products.”
He pledged that the new Juke, recently covered in exclusive detail by Auto Express, will be “bold” when it’s revealed in 2026. “That's all about being super expressive and individualistic, I think we're going to have those personalities in our lineup. And we don't need to do cookie cutter design.”
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