Generation two of this highly successful crossover is giving Nissan Europe much to cheer about at a time when the parent company in Yokohama needs all the good news it can get. The UK is a particular bright spot, the popularity of the Qashqai also giving the brand high visibility as ever more entrants arrive in its segment.
UK’s fifth best seller of 2024
Nissan was smart to keep but evolve the striking appearance of the original model as it revealed the replacement back in late 2019, tweaking things a little in 2024. The result is that everybody knows what the car looks like, most people having a very positive impression of it.
As at the end of July, British market registrations for big brother Qashqai number an impressive 24,529, only the Kia Sportage (27,494) and Ford Puma (30,764) being ahead of it. Then comes the Vauxhall Corsa (22,196), the Juke being not too far behind (21,604) and comparatively well ahead of the VW Golf (18,974).
Built in Britain, for Europe
One of the secrets for the Juke’s continued appeal – it finished 2024 as the market’s fourth best selling car – is Nissan’s continuous evolution. For instance, the two-motor powertrain was added in 2023, its spectacular economy being a great drawcard for retail and corporate sales/leases alike.
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By GlobalDataWhereas the original was a global model, the current one is mostly for Europe; indeed the only factory is in England. Sunderland exports the Juke to selected markets in Asia and the Pacific Rim but there is no availability in North America or Japan. As for the platform, that’s CMF-B, and drive can only be the one axle, that being the front one.
Three transmissions
Select the three-cylinder turbo, which is the base powertrain, and there is a choice of six-speed manual or seven-speed DCT. The version I recently sampled came instead with the more expensive 1.6-litre atmospheric four-cylinder hybrid alternative. The smaller of its two motors is a starter-generator, and the battery’s capacity is 1.2 kWh.
The Hybrid 143’s automatic transmission, which is shared with various Renaults, has just four ratios and can sometimes feel as though more are needed. Climbing steep hills is when I noticed it the most.
N-Sport
N-Sport model grade, as pictured above, includes two-tone paint for not only the roof and its pillars but the mirror covers and wheel-arches. In the test car’s case, that striking yellow paint also featured and the contrasting shade was gloss black. It certainly drew much attention, with the bright yellow also matched via some stripes on the seats and dashboard.
Nissan was careful not to stretch the dimensions much when it came to creating this model, width being an admirable 1,980 mm (including mirrors) and length only 4,210 mm.
The wheelbase is 2,636 mm and with overhangs fairly minimal the big benefit is a good amount of space for those in the back. Head-space is decent too, despite the overall height being only 1,595 mm. For many people who aren’t that keen on the idea of an SUV, the Juke can be the perfect size.
Two boot sizes
In the hybrid the boot has a perfectly respectable 354 litres of capacity and the space is handily shaped. And due to the lack of a battery, this rises to 422 for 1.0-litre turbo variants.
A few things which could do with revisions might include less noisy bonging for those times when you accidentally exceed a speed limit, and Lane Keeping Assist can be a touch on the aggressive side. There’s no faulting economy though, 55 mpg being fairly easily achieved though it does take more than ten seconds for the Hybrid to hit 62 mph. Top speed is 103 mph and the CO2 average is 109 g/km.
Summary
Those who want the opposite of a generic small crossover will really like the Juke. It retains the eccentric style of the first model albeit in a more rounded form and in no way does interior space or visibility suffer in the name of style.
Next Juke an EV?
While it had been believed for a time that the third generation model would be electric, it now appears that this is only part of the story. Insiders report that while the EV, expected to be larger than today’s model, is on schedule, the current Juke looks like it will stick around until 2028 or 2029. That not only gives buyers the choice of electric or hybrid power but will surely help the nameplate stay high in the sales charts. And for anybody who’s curious about how the EV might look, last year’s Hyper Punk concept is believed to provide some large hints.
The Nissan Juke with a 1.0-litre engine (114 PS) is priced from GBP27,545 OTR and from GBP29,575 as a 1.6-litre Hybrid (143 PS).
