New Nissan JUKE confirmed for Oz

The second-generation Nissan JUKE, which was first revealed simultaneously in London, Paris, Barcelona, Milan and Cologne in September and which went on sale in Europe in November, has been confirmed for Australia.

Nissan Australia chief Stephen Lester announced at this week’s media launch of the new Nissan Navara N-TREK Warrior that the next-generation JUKE will reach our shores by mid-2020, although he stopped short of divulging any details regarding local specifications of the compact SUV.

"It's too early to say anything specific," he said.

"We're really excited by the feedback that the vehicle has received in Europe. We have a pre-production model now that's landed in our market, so we've actually been able to physically touch the car, see it and move around it and that's been fantastic."

The new Nissan JUKE will again take on popular mainstream small SUVs such as the top-selling Mitsubishi ASX, Mazda CX-3, Hyundai Kona and Honda HR-V, along with the new cut-price Hyundai Venue.

The new JUKE has grown in length, width and height, and offers more rear seat space and boot space, with the latter increasing from 354 litres to 422 litres. Despite the more generous dimensions it's also 23kg lighter, now weighing in at 1212kg.

The edgy styling continues, the new model retaining its bulbous headlights and sweeping curves but now receiving LED daytime running lights and the latest version of Nissan's V-motion grille.

Meanwhile, the independent front and twist-beam rear suspension has been recalibrated for enhanced stability and sportier performance, says Nissan.

In Europe the next-generation JUKE is powered by a smaller and more economical new 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo-petrol engine producing 86kW of power and 180Nm of torque (and up to 200Nm in overboost mode – periods of sustained full-throttle use for up to 25 seconds).

European buyers can choose between a six-speed manual transmission or a new seven-speed automatic, the latter replacing the predecessor's CVT transmission.

Nissan says the 2020 JUKE will accelerate to 100km/h in 10.4 seconds (auto variants) and 11.1sec (manual), with both capable of a top speed of 180km/h.

The front-wheel drive model is again produced in Nissan's UK production facility in Sunderland, and in Britain it’s available in no fewer than six trim grades.

The flagship Nissan JUKE Premiere Edition adds 19-inch alloys, two-tone paint, leather and Alcantara seating and a Bose Personal Plus stereo system, comprising a pair of Bose UltraNearfield high-fidelity speakers embedded in the front seat head restraints.

That's on top of a range of new Nissan Intelligent Mobility technologies, such as the ProPILOT semi-autonomous self-driving system, which Nissan says will help the JUKE steer, accelerate and brake itself.

Its suite of safety upgrades includes autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection, blind-spot monitoring, dynamic lane keeping, a 360-degree camera package, rear cross traffic alert, high-beam assist and six airbags.

Inside, new TFT instrumentation is complemented by a new 8.0-inch multimedia touch-screen. The NissanConnect smartphone app allows users to access a range of functions, including the ability to push journey plans to the vehicle remotely.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is standard, while the new JUKE is also available with in-car internet, allowing users to utilise the vehicle as a Wi-Fi hotspot. It can also be paired with Google Assistant to access a range of information and allow some functions to be controlled by voice.

Lester said Nissan Australia was still working to finalise the new JUKE's local specification.

"That's still getting worked on; we're still a number of months away from being able to bring it into the market," he said.

"I'm very, very confident that the package that we'll be able to put together for JUKE and JUKE consumers will meet their expectations."

To the end of November 472 examples of the current-generation JUKE had been sold in Australia for a market share of just 0.4 per cent.

Pricing details of the new JUKE will be announced closer to the model's local release. The current JUKE is priced from $23,490.