Last year, Nissan decided to axe the Juke from their US lineup, and was instead replaced by the Kicks crossover. However, the same can’t be said for the Philippine market as the Juke is still a popular model locally. Soon though, the next-generation Juke will be making its debut, and it will likely take a while before we get our hands on it. With that in mind, should we get the Kicks instead? I mean, it will be built in Thailand soon.

According to a reliable source, the Kicks will soon be built at Nissan’s plant in Samut Prakan, Thailand starting in the first half of 2020. Quite interesting developments for Nissan as the next-generation Almera will be starting production in Thailand later this year.

Currently, the Kicks is being built in only a handful of countries such as India, Brazil, and Mexico. With the Kicks coming to Thailand, could it be a sign that Nissan is planning to launch the crossover in the region as well? At the moment, there’s no official word, but it does seem very likely.

The Nissan Kicks officially made its debut in 2016 and rides on the automaker’s V-platform. It is powered by the same 1.6-liter engine as the Juke, which produces 125 PS and 155 Nm of torque. Depending on the variant, the Kicks is available with either a 5-speed manual or Nissan’s X-Tronic continuously variable transmissions (CVT).

Unlike the current-generation Juke, which is around nine years old, the Kicks is relatively new. This then would make it a good replacement or partner to the Juke locally. Considering how late we got the Juke in the Philippines, it could be a while before we get the next-generation model set to debut later this year. Instead, we might be offered with the Kicks instead. 

juke kicks nissan thailand