Nissan Juke

Can an interior-focused revamp continue the market-shaping crossover's appeal before it goes electric? It’s thanks to the commercial success of the original Nissan Juke that the segment known to some as B-SUV (B is the prefix traditionally used to identify superminis) exists at all.In fact, it’s at least partially Nissan's doing that the compact crossover hatchback has become Europe’s biggest automotive market growth area. When the Juke was first launched in 2011, it was the only real model in its class. Within five years, there were 20 rivals. Now, there are more than 40.The second-generation Juke arrived in 2020 with plenty of changes; but it's never been quite the UK-market commercial success that its forebear was. Whereas the original Juke was a fully-paid-up member of the UK supermini class's 30,000-annual-units club (among which, give or take a few hundred cars a year, still feature the Ford Puma, Vauxhall Corsa, Mini, Toyota Yaris and VW Polo), the second-gen Juke has yet to pass the 20,000-unit mark. Nissan will be hoping that, after its latest changes, that might change.The original Juke had a specially adapted chassis used only by Nissan, but this one is based on the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance’s CMF-B platform, which also underpins the likes of the Dacia Sandero, Renault Clio and Renault Captur. Diesel and four-wheel-drive powertrains have been ditched, and now buyers choose between petrol and hybrid, front-drive powertrains.The mid-life facelift that the car has just received is set to take it from 2024 until it is replaced by an all-electric, third-generation model in 2027, based on the Nissan Hyper Punk concept.That said, this is one of those cases where 'facelift' isn't the best description: Nissan has barely touched the exterior – aside from the return of an 'iconic' (Nissan's description, not ours) yellow exterior paint option. Why hasn't Nissan changed the look? Well, customer research suggests that design is the number-one reason customers buy a Juke – so why change something that's working?The powertrains are also unaltered, so the focus of these revisions is very much on refining and improving the interior, which was beginning to lag behind key rivals such as the Ford Puma, Skoda Kamiq and Vauxhall Mokka.The Nissan Juke range at a glance The second-generation Juke was launched in 2020 with a lone choice of engine, the 1.0-litre turbo petrol three-pot that’s also used in the Sandero and Clio, here producing 112bhp. It’s available with a six-speed manual or seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox.It was joined in 2022 by Renault’s E-Tech hybrid powertrain, which combines a four-speed unsynchronised dog ’box with a 48bhp electric motor, a 20bhp starter-generator – drawing power from a 1.2kWh liquid-cooled bettery – and a 93bhp naturally aspirated 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine.Trims range from Visia up through Acenta, N-Connecta (renamed Acenta Premium in the 2024 facelift), Tekna and, from 2024 onwards, N-Sport and Tekna+, which comes with 19in alloy wheels, two-tone paint and part-leather seats as standard. Acenta Premium cars have sat-nav, a rear parking camera, cruise control and LED headlights.The N-Sport trim that arrived in the 2024 update comes with a contrasting colour for the roof, wheel arches, mirror caps and A- and B-pillars.