Crossovers have been one of the greatest things that have ever happened to Nissan. The manufacturer essentially invented the booming sector we have today, with the Qashqai debuting in 2006 and the Juke in 2010.
For 2020, Nissan has been hard at work on the second-generation Juke, which rivals popular models such as the Renault Captur and Volkswagen T-Cross.
For this all-new model, Nissan has changed the Juke heavily to improve it across the board. Here are seven highlights of the all-new model.
New turbocharged engine
While diesel still has its uses and appeal in larger cars, it’s fallen out of favour on smaller cars, so Nissan has decided to no longer offer the Juke with diesel units. So the line-up is now all petrol, but for the time being there’s just a new turbocharged 1.0-litre petrol engine delivering 115bhp and 180Nm of torque.
It’s a versatile engine, which offers a great combination of performance and efficiency, while also coming with the bonus of being able to choose the engine with either a manual or automatic transmission.
New Tekna+ trim level
Previously the Tekna was the range-topping version of the Juke, but Nissan has introduced a new Tekna+ trim level, which will become the top-level model once the current Premiere Edition (first edition) model is no longer on sale.
Tekna+ is the trim level all about personalisation, and it means buyers can add extra style to their Juke. On the exterior, two-tone paint comes as standard, with the roof, front bumper, rear bumper and side skirts all being a different colour to the rest of the car. Large 19-inch ‘Akari’ alloy wheels are also exclusive to this trim.
On the inside, buyers can choose between having grey, black or orange personalisation. Each of these adds a different look to the Juke.
Evolutionary design
The distinctive design of the design was one of the key things that appealed to the 1.5m buyers of the original Juke, so while Nissan has changed this second-generation model significantly, it still retains the original’s charm.
The signature circular headlights and triple layer lights remain, but Nissan has fitted new LED lighting to the Juke, while Nissan’s signature V-Motion grille is now more imposing than ever. Alloy wheels up to 19 inches are also larger than any you would find on the previous Juke.
More spacious than ever
One of the biggest issues with the previous Juke was the compromised spaciousness, but Nissan has ensured plenty of effort has gone into making this Juke more practical than ever.
The new car is longer, wider and taller than the previous car, which all allows it to be roomier than before. Rear passengers will feel the most, with more headroom and legroom than before. The boot space has also increased from 354 litres to 422 litres, which is a pleasing 20 per cent increase.
More advanced safety features
To ensure the Juke can keep up to date with all its rivals, the new model is now offered with more safety kit than it was previously.
As standard it comes with traffic sign recognition, lane departure warning and lane keep assist, but the kit that Tekna models offer is superb. That’s because it adds a 360-degree parking monitor, blind spot warning, adaptive cruise control and an advanced autonomous emergency braking system. Nissan’s excellent semi-autonomous Pro-Pilot driver assistance tech is also available on the options list, too.