Nissan is to manufacture the new ‘Juke’ crossover vehicle at Nissan’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Sunderland.
The Juke will be produced alongside Nissan’s other European crossover, the Qashqai.
In Europe, the introduction in 2007 of Nissan’s Qashqai, heralded the mainstream introduction of a crossover vehicle which provided an alternative to the traditional compact vehicle. In just over two-and-a-half years, and with a half-a-million buyers in Europe, combining the lower body of an SUV and the upper body of a passenger car proved a great success.
The Juke was inspired by the Qazana concept car, displayed at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show. It will fit into the Nissan range between the Note compact family car and the Qashqai crossover.
According to Nissan, the Juke will embody the dynamic design and handling characteristics of a passenger car with the added benefit of all-wheel drive traction. It will also feature improved visibility due to a raised seating position but it will not assume the boxy shape of an SUV.
“We know that there are a lot of customers looking for a car which combines striking design, agile handling and driving pleasure, user friendly technology but not at the expense of practicality and convenience,” said Simon Thomas, Nissan’s European Senior Vice President for Sales and Marketing. “These unique attributes will allow Juke to occupy a unique corner of the European market.”
The Nissan Juke will go on sale from October, following its global public premiere at Geneva Motor Show in March.
Tim Brown
