How Nissan Styled The Juke
First of all, the Nissan Juke really is a fun car to drive. The engine’s an absolute cracker, and the chassis is shockingly composed. Too bad it’s impossible to mention the car without a full-blown war breaking out over its controversial styling. As I noted in my review, Nissan is unabashed about targeting a specific demographic with the Juke, and a number of practical concerns were overlooked in order to please what Nissan calls the “urban experience seeker.” In this video, Nissan’s Alfonso Albaisa shows that the Juke’s design is also a product of this intense focus on 30 year-old guys. Plus, counter-intuitively, a desire to forge a more cohesive design language across Nissans product portfolio. Had Albaisa and his team designed the Juke with more universal values in mind (but with the same widened Versa chassis and 1.6 liter direct-injected turbocharged engine), it’s tempting to believe they could have made a truly iconic automobile. And this is coming from someone who more or less fits the Jukes target demographic.
More by Edward Niedermeyer
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After my initial outpouring of vitriol against the styling, I actually went and had a walk around one at a Nissan dealership aaaand... I dunno. I'm not in the 'My god it's hideous' camp any more, but neither am I in the 'Oh wow, that is so cool' camp either. I find I often react to totally new and unconventional designs and artwork in much the same way, only to then spend far to long looking at it and finally appreciating it as 'different' rather than ugly. So I'm still on the fence when it comes to looks, but like Ed said, you can't fault the fundamental mechanics of the machine. But more importantly for Nissan - it's got car people talking about it.
A car that in the US is appealing to a narrow set of motorheads, specifically those who'd be happier living in Europe. A car with a design that will be a no-issue in Europe, Asia and South America (and Canada) but has predictably polarized the opinion in the land where the 300, Escalade etc are considered of good taste. I see weak sales here. Alfonso's second worst nightmare (his hair stylist running out of hair-spray and gel would be the first) is for the Juke to become cult for its mechanical attributes instead of its design. Like, you will see some of these used to commute from Silicon Valley to Laguna Seca. Had they shoved a 1.6L engine with CVT and lowered the price to Kia Rio levels it would sell by design. It happened with the Element. There's more of them at any given time at parking lots of home and garden stores driven by 60+ year olds than in a beach parking lots and mountain bike downhill tracks. For some reason I think this car will appeal to woman, teens to late 20's, I think it's the ovaries on the front.
It looks like a cross between a Kia Soul and a pug. One of the ugliest cars ever made. It makes an Aztek look like a '55 Chevy.
You know, the looks aren't bad, the performance numbers look pretty decent, the pricing doesn't seem outrageous, but the marketing speak got to me: "compact, tight, sexy . . . feel the solid stance of the car the wheels are way out." Are they trying to sell this to Larry Craig?