Every so often, the auto industry releases an advance photo or two of some new model and my reaction is something along the lines of “what were they smoking when they were designing it?”
Examples include the Pontiac Aztek, the Toyota Yaris Verso and the early 90s Honda Prelude luminiscent green digital dashboard that cleverly placed items of minor interest such as fuel contents and engine temperature in front of the passenger…
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More recently, I had a similar reaction to early shots of the new B-segment Juke crossover: “After the success of the inoffensive Qashqai (aka Dualis in Japan and Australia; called something else I can’t pronounce in China), they come up with that?” Yet, having now seen it in the metal and driven it in and around Frankfurt, I now think its looks – albeit from the front those only its mother could love – will attract its targeted young, trendy, sporty, reasonably well-off males (GBP12,795-15,695 starting prices, you can pay up to GBP19,995) and certainly gain attention on the road.
The target customer is what Nissan calls the ‘urban player’. “He’s a confident, ambitious and outgoing man in his early 30s, quite probably self-employed and in a relationship but without a family. He’s technically minded… A second target customer is a slightly older family man with aspirations of being an urban player.”
Which makes me wonder if, given the apparent average age of Nissan owners in my Midlands neighbourhood, the Juke will ape the Honda Element in the US – designed to appeal mainly to Left Coast surfers (hence the huge sunroof and board-swallowing load capacity), it ended up a smash hit with 50-something males lugging stuff home from DIY and big box stores…
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By GlobalDataCertainly, Juke’s off to a good start in Japan where polarising styling and odd vehicle shapes are more common than here in Europe. According to one report today, the Juke gained 10,943 orders in its first month on sale after its 9 June debut, versus a monthly target of 1,300 units.
The UK target is 9,000 units in the first six months of sales and 20,000 a year once all variants are launched.
The most popular exterior colour so far in Japan has been ‘radiant red’ (29%) and over 59% of Japanese buyers have also gone for the metallic red painted interior highlights including a centre console intended to look like a motorcycle fuel tank.
Nissan Europe execs are cautiously optimistic: “Juke is a car that polarises opinion and it’s certainly not a ‘safe’ option. We are happy with that. Juke might not even appeal to traditional Nissan buyers and we expect most of sales to be conquests from other brands. We are happy with that, too,” said marketing chief Vincent Wijnen.
Qashqai
The underlying hope is a repeat of the Qashqai’s success. You could have dismissed that on its 2007 debut as simply a Toyota RAV4 et al, small-SUV me-too. But clever design, combining a small SUV and the C-segment five-door hatchback many European buyers love into a genuine crossover with the right powertrains and specs, pricing and (mostly) sensible supply-demand production balance, was rewarded with strong, profitable sales and, at times, unexpected lengthy waiting lists.
Regular refreshes – a seven-seat variant in ’08, major facelift earlier this year – have kept interest up. Nissan GB sales chief Tony Lewis said first half UK sales were up 44% to 19,444 units and 160% alone last month. The to-date Europe tally is around 600,000 and the conquest rate about 80%. Not bad for a model that effectively single-handedly replaced the slow-selling C-segment Almera, Almera Tino MPV and D-segment Primera lines.
Now it’s little brother’s turn.
Upper B segment
The automaker said: “Juke sits in what’s known as the upper B segment of the market – a premium product offering something more than the traditional small hatchback. It is a growing segment, too, as customers start to downsize to an increasing number of diverse products from manufacturers ringing the changes with cars outside the traditional constraints of the segment.
“Together the A and B segments are expected to account for 33% of Europe’s total market by 2011, up from 29.6% in 2007, while the C segment will shrink from 27% to less than 25%.
“Juke is also unlike any product Nissan has sold in the segment before, but the success of Qashqai in particular means customers are more in tune with the concept of a small crossover.”
For Europe, all bar the Japan-assembled top 4WD/CVT automatic version with a 190PS/140kW/240Nm 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engine are made in Nissan’s Sunderland plant in north east England.
Powertrain
The British-built versions have a 117PS/86kW/157Nm 1.6-litre petrol engine with five-speed manual transmission or optional CVT autobox, the 1.6 turbo with 2WD and six-speed manual and the Renault-designed 110PS/81kW/240Nm 1.5dCI turbodiesel.
With the rider that I have not driven any rival, I was impressed with the performance of the 1.6 turbo with both manual and CVT transmissions and the 1.5 diesel but found the 1.6s very hard-riding on generally first-class German roads. The 1.5 diesel was a little softer but I do wonder what the ride quality will be like on the potholed river beds that are currently called ‘roads’ in many parts of the UK. A consumer colleague with experience of the rival Audi A1 and Mini Countryman described the steering and handling only as ‘average’.
The packaging is good. Side on, the Juke (20cm shorter than a Ford Focus, 7cm longer than a Peugeot 207) looks very much the butch little crossover with its big wheels pushing out flared guards and the sloping roofline and concealed rear door handles give it a three-door coupe line with five-door hatch practicality. The interior is the mandatory heat-trapping coal hole black for Europe (it was 34C in Frankfurt at the time) but lightened by imaginative silver or red metallic finishes on the aforementioned ‘bike tank’ centre console and door inserts – but we did wonder how easily they’ll get scratched.
Seats are comfortable, passenger and luggage space to expectation, equipment generous by level (three for us in the UK) and the little digital display for climate control and ‘normal’, ‘sport’ and ‘eco’ driver settings is a fun novelty to keep occupants amused in traffic jams – much of it won’t work once on the move.
Buyers
Nissan thinks most buyers – around 60% – will come from the existing B segment and fall into two categories: those looking for more excitement than their current conventional hatchback can offer and those who currently drive cars from image brands such as Mini and Alfa Romeo.
“Almost 40% will be downsizers from C-segment cars, notably those currently driving sporting three door hatchbacks.”
Initially at least, only one in five buyers will be existing Nissan customers with the rest being conquest sales from other brands.
Customer clinics were held in the UK, Germany and Italy and involved more than 620 potential buyers, most of whom liked the styling and overall crossover concept, and the disguised rear doors.
“I thought it was a two door,” one told the automaker. “I like the fact that others might think I drove a nippy two door car but in reality I have a four door that everyone can fit in.”
Over half thought they would go for the Acenta mid-grade, but a surprisingly high proportion, 31%, suggested they would buy the top Tekna grade. This reflects recent experience at Ford where a higher than expected proportion of retail buyers have been opting for models like the Focus and S-Max in a new top trim titled Titanium.
“These results show that attitudes are changing. Juke appeals on an emotional level in a way that conventional cars in this segment cannot achieve. However, Juke also appeals on a rational level, being practical, well equipped and good to drive,” added Wijnen.
