Geneva show: Nissan’s Juke as bold as ever

NISSAN has made significant revisions to its lightweight Juke aimed at keeping the pioneering city SUV fresh in the face of all-new competitors barging in on the booming market segment.

Those expecting the Japanese brand to tone down its controversial styling were proven wrong, with the upgraded model debuting at the Geneva motor show overnight with the signature dramatic front-end design and unique proportions that Nissan says it would never undermine, particularly since it has racked up 420,000 sales in Europe over the past three-and-a-bit years.

As such, Nissan’s designers have been restricted in the changes wrought on the Juke at this mid-life stage, such as tweaking the upper front lamps (now with LED daytime runners), updating the grille, toughening up the under-bumper trim, redesigning the door mirrors (adding LED repeaters and new around-view monitor cameras, where fitted) and creating a more aggressive rear bumper to match the revised boomerang tail-lights, the latter also now with LED ‘light guide technology’.

‘Personalisation packs’ and ‘interior themes’ have been introduced to enable customers to change the colour scheme on various elements across the vehicle, new alloy wheels with coloured inserts are available and the exterior palette now extends to 10 colours.

Mechanically, a new downsized 85kW/190Nm 1.2-litre direct-injection turbo-petrol engine enters the fray – replacing the current 1.6-litre naturally aspirated unit and, with the help of idle-stop, reducing combined-cycle fuel consumption to 5.5L/100km – while the existing 140kW/240Nm 1.6-litre DIG-T turbo-petrol engine has been tweaked to deliver bottom-end torque below 2000rpm.

The four-wheel-drive system now comes with torque vectoring, while AWD versions fitted with the 1.6 DIG-T engine benefit further with the availability of a new Xtronic CVT automatic gearbox.

The existing 81kW 1.5 dCi diesel offered in Europe continues unchanged.

Nissan’s ‘dynamic control’ system offering three driving modes – normal, sport and eco – comes onboard, along with a new audio system, the brand’s latest-generation NissanConnect connectivity technology and the option of a large new sunroof.

Revisions in the cargo area have increased space by a claimed 40 per cent in two-wheel-drive versions, now out to 345 litres, while versatility is further enhanced with a flat-folding rear seat. Nissan has also built in a two-stage floor in the luggage compartment.

The new Juke will go on sale across Europe in the coming months, with an Australian release expected either late this year or early next.