New Nissan Note revealed

The all-new Nissan Note has been revealed ahead of its debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March.

The Note used to be a rival for supermini MPVs like the Honda Jazz and Kia Venga. However, Nissan claims the new design and technology featured on the new model will make it more of a challenger for mainstream hatchbacks like the Ford Fiesta and Volkwagen Polo.

To that end, the new Note gets a smoother, softer look than its predecessor. It has a distinctive front grille design that intersects with the swept-back headlights, while the tail-lights are more upright versions of those on the Nissan Juke.

The most distinctive styling flourish is the ‘squash line,’ which is the crease that runs along the doors it's supposed to be inspired by the flight of a squash ball around a court.

Three Note equipment levels will be available – Visia, Acenta and Tekna – and all cars get stop-start systems, six airbags and cruise control. The top of the range Tekna also features Nissan's Safety Shield, which combines a blind spot monitoring system, lane-departure warning and a moving object detector that warns if a person walks into the path of the car while it's reversing.

The new Note is the same size as the outgoing model, albeit with a slightly lower roof. However, boot space increases from 280 to 300 litres.

The Note is based on a bigger version of the current Nissan Micra, and features a choice of three engines. The first is a 79bhp 1.2-litre petrol that promises to return 60.1mpg economy and emit 109g/km.

There's also a supercharged version of the same engine, with 97bhp, fuel economy of 65.7mpg and 99g/km of CO2 emissions. The sole diesel engine is a 1.5 litre that emits 95g/km of CO2 and returns 78.5mpg.

The Nissan Note is already on sale in Japan and the US. However, the car has been re-engineered for European tastes at Nissan's engineering centre in Cranfield, Bedfordshire. It was also re-designed for Europe at Nissan's European design centre in Paddington, London, and will be built at Nissan's Sunderland factory.

To view the full Nissan range, see the CarBuyer Nissan reviews page.