NISSAN Philippines Inc. (NPI) president Antonio “Toti” Zara declared the truck wars open when NPI launched the all-new Navara pickup, and the company hasn’t released the throttle since then. The all-new Urvan, a refrigerator-style van, followed, and now on the occasion of its second anniversary, Nissan is entering the sub-P1 million crossover segment with the Juke.
The B-segment crossover war is indeed heating up. Ford had an early claim to the segment with its bestselling Ecosport, based off the Fiesta hatchback. The past week alone saw two new entries in the Chevrolet Trax, and now the Nissan Juke.
The Nissan Juke features the most interesting looks in the category by a mile. The Ecosport and Trax emulate the styling of larger crossovers, but in a smaller package. The Juke, by contrast, defies description. It just looks odd and endearing at the same time, and this has caught the attention of customers. In Europe, many Juke buyers are first-time Nissan customers.
The oddly-styled five-seat Juke features what Nissan calls “futuristic design front grille and bumper.” The Juke has huge round foglamps meant to invoke the lights on rally cars. The small main boomerang-shaped headlamps are mounted high on top of the fenders. The lenses are supposed to be visible from the driver’s seat to aid visibility.
Inside, the Juke features sport seats with heavy side bolsters and large round gauges. The center console is inspired by a the shape of a motorcycle tank, including high-gloss paint. The gearshift is mounted high on the console, in the vein of a sports cars shifter position. The engine-transmission can be set to any of three driving modes: Eco, Normal and Sport. As expected, Eco is meant to improve fuel efficiency, while Sport provides a “more intense” performance.
As a crossover, the Juke provides the necessary utility despite the unconventional exterior. There’s reportedly space for five adults, while the flat load floor provides more space for gear and cargo.
One of most attractive features of the Juke is its price: Nissan is aggressively pricing the Juke at P980,000.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
