Nakamura: 'Innovative And Exciting' Second-Gen Nissan Juke In Development
Though the Nissan IDx is still dead, Chief Creative Officer Shiro Nakamura believes a more “innovative and exciting” Juke may make up for the loss.
At this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, Nakamura told evo the IDx, though “very special,” didn’t fit with the automaker’s consistent, “very strong brand expression,” and thus, would not be built “at the moment”:
If we have say, 120 degrees of diversity today, maybe I’ll direct it down to 90 degrees. Our cars need to be more clearly identifiable for consumers.
One car Nakamura aims to be “clearly identifiable” is none other than the second-gen Juke, which is said to “inherit the spirit” of the current model, while avoiding a rehashing of said model’s look.
Another redesign in the works involves the GT-R. Nakamura says it won’t likely be inspired by the front-driven GT-R LM Nismo Le Mans prototype, it would carry-over some elements, including the grill, glasshouse and quad tail lights of the current GT-R.
(Photo credit: Nissan)
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But they didn't answer the real question that discerning minds want to know: Will it still look like a frog?
Jesus. Just say you couldn't make a business case for the IDx. The End. We're all grown ups. As for the Juke, say what you will, it has made Nissan money. I like the way it looks and by most reports it is somewhat fun to toss around. What Nissan could stand to do is increase the displacement to 2 liters on the hotted up NISMO version so it could make some real power. A Pajero Evo by way of Nissan would be neat.
I hope that the next Juke will be longer than the current one. I currently own a Versa hatchback. A Juke could be an interesting upgrade only if it has as much trunk space than the Versa. Otherwise, the HR-V is a better Fit...
You could sell that IDx as an interesting thing, which would STAND OUT and bring people into the showroom to buy an Altima or Juke. Making all the cars the same amount of bland isn't gonna help you out any in the long run. People would ASK what it was and find out, not wonder what it was, and assume it was not a Nissan because it didn't look like their cousin's Maxima. Stupid.