Nissan Juke on the way?

It now looks more likely than ever that Nissan will bring the Juke crossover SUV to market, after all the product planning vacillation of recent years.

Further news came to light courtesy of ANCAP’s latest round of crash testing. Juke has already achieved a five-star score in Euro NCAP testing, but for the local equivalent (the Australasian New Car Assessment Programme – ANCAP) to ‘out’ the Nissan is more corroborative evidence it will be sold here.

Other cars to score five stars in the testing included the Holden Volt, Renault Megane and Audi Q3. Suzuki’s Splash was in the mix, but with a score of just four stars. The tiny Suzuki won’t be coming to Australia, but will be sold in New Zealand, which explains why it makes an appearance in ANCAP’s testing results. According to Suzuki’s local Communications Manager, Andrew Ellis, the Splash is built in Hungary and won’t be coming to Australia because the Alto-sized hatch would cost more than the larger Swift landed here.

In a press release issued earlier this week, ANCAP Chairman, Lauchlan McIntosh applauded the Volt for its five-star score, although the result was not ground-breaking news, since it shares much of its construction with the Cruze. Still, Mr McIntosh hailed it as a safety win for eco-friendly cars.

“As more electric vehicles enter the market, no doubt consumers are interested to learn of any additional safety concerns regarding these vehicles when involved in a crash,” he was quoted as saying. “Battery-powered vehicles present a different challenge to manufacturers when incorporating crash protection into their designs however the crash protection provided by the Volt is on par with our traditionally-powered models.”

“In addition to the Volt being one of the safest choices for consumers, it also has an innovative range-extending petrol generator making it an attractive green vehicle for non-urban areas.”

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