Official reveal: Nissan Micra reinvented as Renault 5 twin

Described as “audacious, assertive and funky”, the new look takes inspiration from the bulbous Mk3 Micra of 2002, especially for its circular daytime-running lights at both ends.

Cho added that “it was tough” when his designers were tasked with creating something that would differ visually from the “already good-looking” 5, especially given the fixed underpinnings.

One change from the 5 is at the front, where the bonnet is higher, longer and features slightly more bulky arches in order to give the Micra a different silhouette.

“We wanted to carry more volume to the front,” said Cho, who added that this gives the Micra more of a crossover feel – like the Renault Megane – than the 5, which is more overtly a hatchback and “sporty”.

Another differentiator is at the rear, where a lip was added, and at the side (visually where the twins are most obviously related), where there’s a shoulder line that looks “like it’s been scooped by a gelato scoop”.

These design elements combine to make the Micra “a grandma car no more”, claimed Cho.

The interior is essentially identical to the 5’s, with the same twin 10.25in screens, same switchgear and same materials, but its colour offerings – white, grey and black – are more muted.

That is intended to position Nissan’s entry-level EV as more of a premium offering than the 5, European marketing boss Arnaud Charpentier told Autocar. Pricing, he suggested, would therefore start above Renault’s £22,995 entry point.

Explaining why Nissan had given the Micra such a radical styling overhaul, Charpentier said: “The UK is our best market in Europe by far [with 133,000 sales since the start of 2024], so we had to come back with something different.

“I think this new car will create a gap between what people have in mind when they look or think of the [Micra] nameplate and what is now the reality.

“Young buyers? That was the objective.”

Charpentier said traditional Micra buyers in the UK differ from those in other markets. For example, in France and Spain they are younger and “almost 95% female”. As such, he explained, “we wanted to come back with something which is gender-neutral”.

Charpentier continued: “The challenge is really to rejuvenate, because we know that in the UK we have this [grandma] association, and we believe through the audacious and playful design that we see, it’s going to help conquer new types of buyers, like younger, modern parents.”