The Nissan Micra will return this year as an electric car twinned with the Renault 5, developed with a focus on the European market.

The fifth generation of the supermini will be one of three new EVs that Nissan will launch in Europe by the end of 2026, along with the new Leaf and an electric Juke.

The first official images of the production version of the Micra show that it retains many of the design cues seen on the motorsport-themed 20-23 concept shown in 2023.

While the design of the car was led at Nissan’s European design centre in London, the car will be manufactured by Alliance partner Renault in Douai, France, and will share its CMF-BEV platform and technical underpinnings with the 5.

It contains design cues to the K12-generation Micra of 2002, particularly through its round front and rear lights.

Nissan’s global design chief, Alfonso Albaisa, said the new Micra was developed alongside the 5 from the start, claiming it represented the closest he has worked with the French firm on a design project.

His London studio had been working on concepts for a small car, and when the deal was agreed with Renault, “it just happened to work out, because we already had studies playing with round headlamps”.

“The beauty was that we were looking at something much cuter, with round, puppy-dog headlights, but the Renault car is a bit of a bulldog,” Continued Alirada.

“So what I love about the Micra is that it has some cute things but the body, shoulders and tyres are huge. The bonnet of the Micra is bigger.

“The Renault has a little more angle, because the original 5 had a bonnet that went down. The previous Micra wan’t that type of wedge car, so the engineers were spectacular, because the front of the car is a minefield to rework, because of all the safety features.”