Sao Paulo motor show: Nissan Extrem

Nissan has decided to empower its California-based design studio to think up a new concept car specifically for Brazil, because nothing screams ‘Rio' more than a flock of San Diego scribblers: meet the new Nissan Extrem.

Of course, they had input from Brazilian designers to help reflect the country's "passionate, rich culture". It sits on the same ‘V' platform as the Nissan Micra, roughly sharing that car's dimensions too - though the Extrem is a smidgen longer, wider and taller.

And Nissan has fitted the Extrem with its turbocharged 1.6-litre petrol engine which, as you should know very well by now, also appears - in an advanced state of tune - in the Nissan DeltaWing. (We've just a drive in that too, and it's chuffing awesome).

Nissan tells us while this is strictly a concept, the Extrem could be offered with a choice of either front or four-wheel drive with torque vectoring for bettering cornering.

Oh, and about that "passionate, rich culture" bit? Nissan has nicknamed the Extrem it's ‘baby beast'. "We see it as an urban rally car," says Robert Bauer, senior design manager at Nissan Design America. "It's a tough little street fighter that can handle the urban jungle with agility and confidence."

Looks like a fighty-little bugger too, doesn't it? There's that sloping roofline, wraparound glass, floating roof rails and a metallic orange paint job.

It's on display at the Sao Paulo motor show now, but seeing as you're on our Internet, you can look at it here. People of Brazil, what say you about the ‘baby beast'? Remember, there's a whole slew of these tiny, urbanite SUVs coming your way soon, as we told you many months ago...