Nissan surprisingly renews (and electrifies) the Juke

For quite a few years now, Nissan has been dragging financial losses and seeing various industrial and commercial indicators of the brand go down in a crisis that seems to have no bottom. In fact, the Japanese brand is the weak link in the alliance with Renault, which had already offered Honda the possibility of taking over Nissan if it took charge of the brand's debts through the mediation of the Japanese government, an agreement that Honda (focused on its own problems) ultimately did not want to sign.

focused on its own problems) did not want to sign.

It is precisely this turbulent and changing context that explains Nissan's difficult situation and the risky decisions it is making. After launching the new electric Leaf, the Japanese have surprisingly presented the new Juke, a B-segment urban SUV that sold particularly well in Europe between 2010 and 2020 with more than one and a half million units sold, but which has lost some momentum in recent years. The new Juke will be a fully electric car that will take advantage of the modular platform, technology, engines and batteries of the Leaf and Ariya (the CMF EV platform of the Renault-Nissan alliance), and will be manufactured at the British plant in Sunderland.

The new Juke aims to be transgressive, modern, and disruptive, carving out a place in an increasingly homogeneous electric vehicle market. To achieve this, it applies the same principles as the combustion Juke (highly personal and differentiating aesthetics), materialized in a body full of folds and geometric shapes, an even higher waistline, and door handles integrated into the bodywork. Nissan has not yet wanted to show interior images of the car, nor has it confirmed the power, ranges, and prices of the models for sale, but we can assume that its cabin and trunk will be larger and more spacious thanks to the electric platform on which it will be built.

What we do know, however, is that Nissan wants to start marketing this model in just under a year, in the spring of 2027. This means that the new electric Juke will still coexist for several years with the current generation Juke, which has combustion engines and hybrid versions and prices ranging between 23,000 and 30,000 euros, depending on power and equipment. Most likely, the new electric Juke will be positioned slightly above the price range of the current combustion model, especially regarding entry-level models with less autonomy, and will be positioned as a more affordable urban alternative to the Nissan Ariya and Nissan Leaf.