Nissan unveiled a strange-looking, oddly-named SUV today. And I love it. Sounds wrong on all sorts of levels? Probably, but the Juke - a segment-busting SUV that's roughly B-car (Fiesta) sized - makes sense for lots of reasons. Retaining the high driving position, butch styling of SUVs that people love, while junking the, erm, junk is a good start. But the best thing about it, is that - for the first time in a long time - a car maker has managed to get a concept car through to production without emasculating it into oblivion (looking at you Honda CR-Z). This is by far the most interesting thing in car design we've yet seen in 2010.
For having the guts to be willfully weird, I hope for Nissan's sake that it sells like hot cakes.
More pics all over the motoring press - Car, for example - my Qazana vid from Geneva last year, below:
I can remember standing, staring and loving the Qazana with you at Geneva, and like you I'm super pleased with how it's translated into a production model. I just wish they could have kept the suicide doors - the play on coupe is somewhat lost with the shorter front door: http://bit.ly/bmvPze
Posted by: Drewpasmith | February 11, 2010 at 12:51 AM
It's a very smart little car, and quite a brave move considering, though I think buyers will love it.
The suicide doors would have been cool - the Meriva manages to get them in after all.
Posted by: Robin Brown | February 12, 2010 at 11:19 AM
Totally agree, Nissan admit they shunned conventional methods for a more creative approach for the Juke and it is definitely paying off. It has already far exceeded it's expectations in Japan and it will be interesting to see how the numbers go in America and Europe.
Posted by: SG Petch Nissan | July 27, 2010 at 01:53 PM