The original Micra, framename K10, introduced October 1982 as a competitor to the highly sucessful Honda City, was intended to replace the Cherry as the company's competitor in the "supermini" segment, as the Cherry model itself had progressively become larger with each successive generation. The Micra was initially available with a 1.0 L (MA10) SOHC engine derived from the type used in the Sunny and Cherry ranges. The model was revised in June 1985, where the model was updated in appearance. Another minor facelift in March 1989, which consisted of some minor upgardes such as deeper bumpers, front grill and headlight changes, aswell some small changes to the interior, it also saw the introduction of the larger 1.2 engine (60bhp) and a 5-door version. One of them was a high performance version called (EK10GFR) March Super Turbo , which came with an combined sequential supercharged/turbocharged all aluminium straight-4 930 cc MA09ERT engine that produces 110 PS JIS (81 kW/108 hp) in stock form. This car comes with an improved transmission and an all exclusive aero parts.
The Micra's chassis spawned a number of variations. The Be-1 (BK10), launched at the Tokyo Motor Show in 1985 and not sold until 1987, was a limited edition model with a more rounded bodyshape, and only 10,000 were sold. In 1987 the canvas topped, retro looking hatchback, Pao (PK10) was launched also at the Tokyo Motorshow and sold to the public in 1989, only 51,657 were built and a canvas topped coupe, Figaro (FK10) was unveiled at the same show in 1989 and not released until 1991. As 20,000 were built, demand for this model was so huge that Nissan sold the car by staging a lottery to pick who could take orders for the car. With a cult status attatched to it and numerous celebrity owners, despite being a JDM only model, the Figaro is one of the most grey imported models of the K10 cast-offs. The K10 remained in production until 1992.