Geneva 2010: Nissan Juke

Today is the day for Geneva crossover releases, with Volkswagen's Touareg being shown for the first time as well. Nissan has previewed the Juke before, showing us the Qazana Concept at the Geneva Motor Show. A year later, the production version is debuting. Lets Juke and jive!

Most crossovers aspire to mix the attributes of a car and a SUV, but Nissan goes a step further than that, saying the Juke is  "part SUV, part sports car."

The Nissan Juke is a rare case of the production car being as odd, or even more odd, than the concept that preceded it. That fact is striking, because a vehicle in the Juke's segment has the potential to be a big seller for Nissan.

The design of the Juke is quite unlike anything we've seen. There's a whole bunch of different shapes and textures to the design - for instance there is two sets of headlights that are completely different from each other.

We'd imagine that, more than most, this is a design that demands to be seen in person. The Juke doesn't share much stylistically, if anything, with other Nissans. It does fit into the wacky design mould of the Cube though.

How will it fare in the marketplace? The Juke seems decidedly Renault-like, and a big risk for Nissan.

For someone like Renault, taking styling risks is what people expect, so in their case taking risks really isn't a risk at all. So we've got to hand it to Nissan, it takes a lot of guts to make a production vehicle look like the Juke. Expect them to take more risks in the future if the gamble pays off.

Inside, the Juke takes a bit less wacky approach, but still manages to have some cool elements - or, in this case, a cool element. That would be the glossy center console that is the main attraction.

Nissan says it was designed to resemble a motorcycle's fuel tank. It is available in two colors,  red (pictured) or silver color.  How about body color as well Nissan? That would be cool.

The interior also has Nissan's new Dynamic Control System, the center command and display screen in the stack that shows details and options for the car's dynamics, as well as climate control and other functions.

While it appears large in pictures, the Juke is actually less than you might think. It is based on Nissan's Alliance B-Platform, which is shared with Renault. Nissan says it has been "lengthened, widened and significantly strengthened and lightened" for use on the Juke.

That is a whole lot of "eds" but it sounds good. The wheelbase on the Juke measures 92.5 inches, versus 102.4 inches on a compact car like the Toyota Corolla.

There are 5 different engine options available. On the base end, there is the two-wheel drive 1.5 Ci diesel model making 108 horsepower, and mated to a six speed manual. At the top end is the four-wheel drive, turbocharged 1.6 liter turbo making 187 horsepower, driven by Nissan's XTRONIC continuouslly variable transmission system.

It will be interesting to see where Nissan prices this, and also which engines make it across the pond. One thing we don't have to wonder about though: right out of the gate Nissan has confirmed that the Juke is coming to U.S shores.