With a roomy cabin, and attractive looks, the Nissan Kicks is targeting primarily at young people, and the new Kicks Surf concept is here to prove you don’t need an expensive, super high-tech vehicle to have fun and practice your hobby.
As the name itself reveals, the study is designed for “those in search of the perfect wave,” or people with an active lifestyle enjoying surfing. Nissan says it has installed roof crossbars for carrying boards and a rear deck for wetsuits and different accessories. What’s even more interesting, the car has a portable shower system and a water-resistant wrist band that actually locks and unlocks the vehicle’s doors.
Gallery: Nissan Kicks Surf concept
The funky concept has been developed with input from brothers Alejo and Santiago Muniz, who are both surfing champions competing for Brazil and Argentina respectively. The Kicks Surf has been designed at Nissan’s Latin American satellite design studio and is inspired by South America’s famous beaches.
"We imagined it would have to be the perfect ally for the lifestyle and needs of surfers," John Sahs, who led Nissan's design team that created the Kicks Surf concept, comments. "Blue is an evolving colour that goes from dark to light, and we used it to represent the variety of tones in ocean water. The bright yellow-green accents, together with the blue, gives the Nissan Kicks Surf concept vehicle a dynamic and sporty feel."
What is a Nissan Kicks?
At this point, Nissan is not commenting on the prospects of putting the Kicks Surf into production. While this probably won’t happen, we won’t be surprised if we see some of its features as factory accessory options for the regular Kicks.
The Kicks serves as the Juke replacement in the United States as a small, entry-level crossover. There are no plans at the moment to build the Nissan Kicks in right-hand drive for the UK market.
SÃO PAULO – Inspired by champion surfers, Nissan today introduced the Nissan Kicks Surf, a concept car designed for those in search of the perfect wave.
Based on the award-winning Nissan Kicks compact crossover, the Kicks Surf is e quipped with roof crossbars for carrying boards, a rear deck for wetsuits and accessories, a changing booth and a portable shower system. It also comes with a water-resistant wrist band that can be used as a key to lock and unlock the doors.
To develop the Kicks Surf, designers at Nissan's Latin American satellite design studio interviewed brothers Alejo and Santiago Muniz – surfing champions who compete for Brazil and Argentina, respectively – and asked them what features they'd put on their ideal surf vehicle.
"We imagined it would have to be the perfect ally for the lifestyle and needs of surfers," said John Sahs, who led Nissan's design team.
The design was also inspired by Latin America's famous beaches. The Kicks Surf stands out for its predominantly blue color with yellow-green accents, and graphics representing ocean waves. Inside, details including blue stitching complement the exterior colors.
"Blue is an evolving color that goes from dark to light, and we used it to represent the variety of tones in ocean water," said Sahs. "The bright yellow-green accents, together with the blue, gives the Nissan Kicks Surf concept vehicle a dynamic and sporty feel."
The Nissan Kicks, the brand's first global model launched in Latin America, has become one of the region's top-selling cars. Its accolades include being named "2017 SUV of the Year" by the Inter-American Automobile Journalists Federation and "Best SUV of the Year" by Car and Driver Brazil magazine. In the U.S., the Kicks was named "Compact CUV of Texas" and "Best Value" at the 2018 Texas Truck Rodeo.