The fifth-generation Micra is due in 2016 and is expected to bring a radical new design after complaints that the current model was too staid.

In a statement the carmaker said: ‘Innovative design and product planning gave birth to Nissan Qashqai and Juke, two of the biggest automotive success stories of recent years. What would happen if the company applied the same radical thinking and quality standards to one of the most important sectors in Europe: the small hatchback?’

It added that Sway is a glimpse at how a future generation of small Nissan models could look if the ‘company's striking new design language was applied to a European hatchback’.