Nissan Juke revamped with bigger touchscreen and improved quality

Nissan has given its popular Juke crossover a wide-reaching interior overhaul in a bid to maintain its position near the top of the sales charts.

The updates come as the third-generation Juke enters its fifth year on sale, having sold a record 31,745 units in the UK last year to rank as one of the country’s best-selling cars.

The updates focus primarily on improving quality and ease of use, with new materials, better fit and finish, a larger touchscreen and upgraded smartphone connectivity among the upgrades.

Speaking at the launch of the facelifted crossover, assistant chief engineer Stephane Gandy said: “We wanted to make it feel as though you’re in a jet fighter. When you’re inside, everything is quite close to your side. Positioning that screen and playing with the orientation, it plays with emotions.”

The Juke has also been given a new range-topping trim level, N-Sport, which sits alongside Tekna cars and above the existing Acenta Premium and N-Connecta trims.

Entry-level Visia trim has been dropped, owing to it accounting for just 1% of total sales.

Andrew Humberstone, managing director of Nissan GB, said: “The latest-generation Juke was launched in 2019, and continual improvements, including a new hybrid powertrain, have ensured it remains popular with UK customers in a fiercely competitive sector.

“2023 was the current generation Juke’s best-selling year, and these latest updates retain its distinctive style while enhancing connectivity, quality, interior design and safety to ensure it stays ahead of the competition.”

The touchscreen has been increased from 8.0in in diameter to 12.3in as standard, with revised menus aimed at making it more intuitive to use and new customisable widgets added for access to the most commonly used functions.

The screen is also now angled towards the driver by 8deg to make it easier to use on the move, and there is a breathalyser fitted in the glovebox should the need arise for the driver to use it, however it will not be activated until UK regulations mandate it to do so.

Outside, the Ford Puma rival remains largely the same as before, albeit with new alloy wheel designs and, on hybrids, low-rolling-resistance tyres to reduce its CO2 emissions.

When asked why its exterior design was largely unchanged, vice president of Nissan Design Europe Matthew Weaver told Autocar: “It’s partly to do with with R&D. The exterior is pretty iconic as it is, for example the four headlight combination on the road still stands out.

“The car sits really well on the road, and customer feedback was positive. We’ve been over it again and again, and we felt if we’re putting money into the technology we might as well just show it with this car’s interior.”

A new configurable 12.3in digital instrument display has been introduced to N-Connecta trim and above, bringing a new 3D-effect display theme and the ability to view the sat-nav between the rev counter and speedometer.

N-Sport cars get yellow Alcantara inserts on the dashboard and seats to match the new yellow paint outside – a colour which took two years to develop – together with a new quilted pattern for the seat bases and yellow stitching throughout.

There are a number of small tweaks aimed at making the Juke easier to live with, too: the glovebox is bigger, the handbrake is now electronic as standard and the EV mode button in hybrid cars has been moved to make it easier to reach.

When asked why it wouldn’t be given EV power, Gandy added: “The architecture of the car isn’t suited to an electric powertrain. We would have to change too much [to give it one]. We will however have [a Juke] EV in the future.”

The engine options are also unchanged. A 1.0-litre turbo petrol triple comes with a six-speed manual or seven-speed automatic gearbox, while the hybrid has a 1.6-litre petrol four, an electric motor and a 1.2kWh battery.

The Juke will continue to be built at Nissan’s Sunderland plant, with deliveries expected for later this year. Pricing is as yet unknown, but we expect there to be a slight increase over the current £20,985 base price.