More rakish Nissan JUKE previewed

A third teaser image of the second-generation Nissan JUKE has revealed that it will feature a more rakish side profile design but lose its trademark boomerang tail-lights.

The new darkened image of the next JUKE's side profile, tweeted overnight by Nissan Europe, suggests the all-new small SUV might also increase in size and gain a longer wheelbase compared to the current model.

This would address one of the biggest complaints of the current car – a lack of boot space and restricted amount of rear-seat room for carrying a pair of adults.

It's thought the more slippery lines might also go some way to tone down the current car's squat, muscular looks, although don't rule out the little Nissan's replacement continuing to polarise opinion in its crowded SUV class.

An earlier head-on teaser shot showing a pair of star-shaped headlights and thin LED daytime running lights, suggests the Japanese car-maker will again ensure the JUKE has striking looks.

Nissan didn't release any new information with its second tease, but we already know that the next Nissan JUKE will be based on the Renault-Nissan CMF-B platform that underpins the new Renault Clio hatch and Captur small SUV.

Under the bonnet, the MkII Nissan JUKE is expected to be powered by the same small turbo-petrol engines as the Clio and Captur, with all-wheel drive reserved for more expensive automatic variants.

Replacing the current JUKE’s 1.2- and 1.6-litre turbo-petrol engines will be 1.0-litre three-cylinder and 1.3-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engines from Europe’s QASHQAI.

Once again, a NISMO RS halo model should eventually be offered, alongside the first plug-in hybrid version.

Australian specifications are a long way off, since the new Nissan JUKE is not expected to go on sale globally until early 2020.

Unlike in Europe, where it still manages to find more than 100,000 customers annually, JUKE sales have always been slow in Australia, where registrations are down more than quarter in 2019.

So far this year Nissan Australia has sold just 266 JUKEs, which pales into insignificance when compared with the 10,435 Mitsubishi ASXs that found homes.