Nissan New Micra headed for Canadian showroom after Montreal reveal? [UPDATE]

Fresh off news that Mitsubishi is bringing a sedan version of its Mirage, called the G4, to this month's Montreal Auto Show, we now believe that another small car will be debuting for our small-car-loving friends to the north. Word is that Nissan will be bringing its compact New Micra to the Canadian show, as well. Slotting in just below the Versa Note hatchback in terms of both size and price, the Montreal debut should be followed up with an on-sale date in short order.

We've been hearing rumors that the New Micra would end up in Canadian dealerships for some time. At every turn, however, we've also heard that the Franco-Japanese hatch is not intended for sale in the US, and nothing in this latest report from Autos.ca would seem to indicate otherwise. As Autoblog sources are quick to point out, Nissan already has one of the least-expensive offerings in the US, the $11,990 Versa Sedan, and the Japanese automaker just doesn't see room underneath it for another model. Sorry, Yank.

UPDATE: As it turns out, our affiliates at Autoblog Quebec actually attended a pre-show launch party for the Canadian New Micra. In addition to snapping a gallery of photos of the car (see above), they also uncovered a few details.

The Micra will make use of the same, 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine as the Nissan Versa, producing 109 horsepower. A four-speed automatic and a five-speed manual transmission will be available. Autoblog Quebec speculates that the Micra will start between $11,000 and $12,000 (Canadian). What's more, Nissan has apparently adapted the car to the extreme cold weather of the region, doing more than 20,000 kilometers of testing in northern Quebec.