Trollolol: Nissan Shows New Juke in 'Francfort'

It would seem that trolling isn’t limited to annoying keyboard warriors and bored teenagers. Nissan, one of the companies that skipped this year’s motor show festivities in Frankfurt, released images earlier this week of its new Juke at a pop-up display in … Francfort.

Besides the obvious appearance of new Nissan metal, a move like this is fuels the stinging narrative that sprawling and expensive traditional auto shows are currying less and less favor with manufacturers.

According to the always helpful Google, the location of this display in the town of Charente-Maritime is about 660 miles from the actual Frankfurt, or nearly 1100 kilometers in Roman Catholic measures.

Nissan has a point, especially in a digital age in which almost every new reveal is leaked online via eagle-eyed photogs or right-place-right-time people wielding a smartphone. Nearly everyone has a camera in their pocket these days, not to mention the means to instantly distribute high-res photography, so gone is the age in which an auto show is the only place in which to see the newest and hottest debuts. Other marques to skip Frankfurt this year include the likes of Aston Martin, Toyota, and Volvo.

As for the Juke itself, this new roller skate with toenails for headlights is powered by a 1.0L turbocharged three-cylinder engine making about 115 horsepower. Buyers on the other side of the pond can equip it with either a six-speed manual or a 7-speed DCT. The company’s nifty ProPilot suite of safety nannies are also on board. However, shoppers in this country will have to get their Kicks from a different part of the Nissan lineup.

This stunt is markedly clever, reminding your author of the fake Prada store just north of Valentine, Texas. Technically an art installation, it appears to be a shop fit for Rodeo Drive emerging from the vast and empty Texas landscape. Your author finds this type of stuff fascinating.

What’s your take on it? Is it yet another nail in the coffin of modern auto shows? Sound off below.

[Images: Nissan, Wikimedia Commons]