We don’t know what to make of that.
Nissan is planning big things for its Juke crossover, which has been on the market for 8-years and is finally seeing demand for it tapering off. The bold, striking styling were one of the major factors in the Juke’s success, with the divisive-looking thing winning more fans than detractors through the early years.
But as we said earlier, the Nissan Juke’s been around since 2010. That fresh face isn’t looking so fresh anymore and with the crossover segment growing at a seemingly relentless pace, the Nissan Juke demands a major update as it comes into its second generation, and design boss Alfonso Albaisa doesn’t intend to disappoint.
Sitting down with UK publication Autocar, Albaisa sought to lay to rest some rumours circulating around the next-generation Juke project, particularly the one that suggested the delay of the Juke’s replacement was due to the initial design being ‘returned for review’ following negative internal reception:
“[The Juke] is certainly coming soon. But it didn’t get ‘sent back.’ I’m not sure where that story came from, but it’s a very cool car and it still has all of its attitude.” — Alfonso Albaisa, Global Design Director, Nissan
That attitude will form a major part of the Juke’s appeal, with Albaisa underlining that the second-generation Juke’s presented a major challenge to him and his team, particularly since it hasn’t drawn on any preceding design, and clarified that it “doesn’t look too much like the last one.”
“It doesn’t look like the IMx [electric crossover from 2017 Tokyo show] or the new Leaf [electric hatchback] either. It’s an urban meteor with a nasty attitude. Our job was easier with the first [generation Juke] because their was nothing else like it, and that car’s success was so huge even given how polarising it looked. The second one couldn’t be derivative or evolutionary, and still be a Juke. We’d almost have to change its name to ‘Nancy’ otherwise.” — Alfonso Albaisa, Global Design Director, Nissan
The Nissan Juke made quite the splash when it arrived at the Geneva Motor Show back in 2010, preceded by the Qazana concept at the same venue the year before. Despite its divisive styling (which this writer is no fan of) the Juke’s gone on to be one of Nissan’s success stories, and so it’s likely that the second-generation car will not be ‘previewed’ by a design concept of any kind as to ensure maximum critical impact when it arrives next year.
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