Nissan Juke: the crossover that split opinion

NISSAN

White Nissan Juke
A Nissan Juke with the split headlight face. Photo by Technicalparameters.eu, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

The Nissan Juke is a subcompact crossover built since 2010. It debuted as a production car at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show in March and reached North America at the 2010 New York show for the 2011 model year, as the smallest crossover in Nissan’s range before the Magnite. The name means to dance or change direction with agility, and also refers to a jukebox.

Nissan Juke at a glance

Nissan Juke key facts
Production since 2010
Generations F15 (2010), second generation from 2019
Concept Nissan Qazana, Geneva 2009
Plant for Europe Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK, Sunderland
Other plants Oppama, Japan; Purwakarta, Indonesia
Platform Nissan B (first generation), Renault-Nissan CMF-B (second)
Design Nissan Design Europe, London
Replaced by Nissan Kicks in most markets outside Europe and Australasia

based on one source: the English Wikipedia article on the Nissan Juke.

History of the Nissan Juke

Qazana and launch

On 11 February 2009 Nissan announced that the model would be built at its Sunderland plant in the United Kingdom during 2010, after showing it as the Qazana concept at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show. The production Juke was designed at Nissan Design Europe in London and refined at the design centre in Japan, on the Nissan B platform.

2024 Nissan Juke F16
A 2024 Nissan Juke of the second generation. Photo by Alexander-93, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Where it was built

Sunderland supplied the European market, Australia and New Zealand, while the Oppama plant in Japan built the car for all other countries; both plants made the all-wheel-drive variant. The Purwakarta plant in Indonesia assembled the Juke for the domestic market and Thailand with 40 percent local content, front-wheel drive only. A rebadged version of the first-generation Juke was sold in China as the Infiniti ESQ.

Second generation

The second-generation Juke was revealed for Europe in September 2019 with larger dimensions on the newer Renault-Nissan CMF-B platform. That generation marked the model’s withdrawal from most markets outside Europe and Australasia, making way for the Nissan Kicks.

Design and features

  • Qazana concept: the show car of 2009 that previewed the shape.
  • Bold face: the split headlight design that defined the first generation.
  • Sunderland build: British production for Europe from 2010.
  • CMF-B platform: the second generation moved to the alliance base.

Nissan Juke versions

  • Juke F15 (2010–2019): first generation, front- and all-wheel drive.
  • Infiniti ESQ: a rebadged first-generation Juke for China.
  • Juke second generation (2019–): larger car on the CMF-B platform.

The Juke sat above the Cube and below the Qashqai in Nissan’s crossover range. More cars are in the Nissan collection.

Video: Nissan Juke – Die neue Spezies aus Japan

Video by YouTube on YouTube.

Sources