Rendering - Is this the Nissan Micra facelift?

The Nissan Micra is the hatchback which spearheaded the Japanese company's growth in India before its sedan brother Sunny arrived at the scene and took over the responsibility.

The Micra has been here since 2010 and is in need of a mid-life facelift to stay at par with the competition and that is what Nissan has on the cards for next year.

The facelifted Micra is expected to derive its design inspirations from the Nissan EXTREM concept showcased at the Sao Paulo Motor Show earlier this year. Although strictly a concept car with no immediate plans for production, Nissan says that the elements of EXTREM's styling offers a glimpse into future Nissan products, for Brazil and beyond.

Hence we reckon it's logical for Nissan to take a leaf out of EXTREM's design for Micra facelift. Our in-house image manipulating expert Shoeb envisions the facelifted Micra as seen above.

The headlamps are inspired by that of the EXTREM which in turn was inspired by Nissan 370Z's headlamps. The front grill, lower airdam and the Nissan logo cradled by a chrome trough are all featured in the EXTREM and blends with the Micra's rest of the bodywork without any complaints.

The Nissan Micra facelift will continue to use the same 1.2 litre petrol and the popular 1.5 K9K diesel engine which churn out 76 PS and 65 PS respectively.

Indian Autos Blog readers were updated on the Nissan Micra facelift back in the last week of May. We believe the facelift may come out much ahead of Diwali 2013.

The Nissan Micra could appeal more to male buyers after this cosmetic makeover.