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Nissan Juke EV: The Marmite Crossover Goes Electric

Nissan’s smallest crossover is about to plug in. The all-electric Nissan Juke EV has hit public roads for testing, marking the beginning of a new chapter for one of the most polarizing nameplates in the compact SUV world.

Known as the “Marmite car” of the Nissan lineup—either you love it or you really, really don’t—the Juke is going electric as part of the brand’s rapid EV expansion. It will be built in Sunderland, UK, alongside the new Leaf and Qashqai, and is expected to launch next year as Nissan’s challenger to the Ford Puma Gen-E and Kia EV3.

Electric DNA, Same Attitude

The upcoming Juke EV shares its CMF-BEV platform with the next-generation Leaf, and under the skin, it’s expected to use the same powertrain options. That means a single-motor setup producing up to 214 horsepower, and a range of more than 350 miles—figures that should make it one of the more capable city crossovers in the segment.

Despite the shared architecture, Nissan is adamant that the two cars will not overlap. Speaking to Autocar, Guillaume Cartier, Nissan’s Chief Performance Officer, said the Juke and Leaf appeal to “totally different profiles, with nothing in common.”

“One is SUV, the other is more coupé-sedan,” Cartier explained. “One is E-Power, the other is electric. Then you have Juke—and Juke is Marmite.”

That identity crisis—or rather, identity confidence—appears to be a deliberate play. Nissan wants the Juke EV to remain divisive, bold, and instantly recognizable, just as the original 2010 model once was when it kicked off the compact crossover craze.

Design: Still the Rebel

Spy shots of camouflaged prototypes testing in Spain show a silhouette that’s unmistakably Juke: raked roofline, exaggerated haunches, and visor-style side windows. While much of the design remains hidden, Nissan’s earlier teaser image hinted at sharp, futuristic lighting signatures and pronounced surfacing—details inspired by the Hyper Punk concept shown at last year’s Tokyo Motor Show.

In other words, don’t expect the Juke EV to blend in. Expect it to stand out.

Cartier even admits the Juke will continue to be “purposely divisive,” designed to provoke strong reactions. “You will have people who say ‘wow’ and people who say ‘no thank you, not for me,’” he said. “Based on that, I think this car will not be compared to anything else.”

Driving Character: More Bite Than Leaf

While it shares bones with the new Leaf, Nissan Europe’s R&D boss David Moss has suggested the Juke EV will feature a bespoke chassis setup to emphasize its “dynamic” character. Suspension tuning, steering weight, and ride height are all expected to differ from its platform mates, giving the electric Juke a slightly sportier flavor.

“As the size of the car grows, you change its ride and handling characteristics,” Moss noted. “If it sits in a different segment, you might change the suspension.”

That could hint at a car positioned more toward urban agility and driver involvement than outright comfort—something the current hybrid Juke already hints at but hasn’t fully realized.

Price and Production: Sunderland’s Electric Trio

The Juke EV will roll off the line in Sunderland, joining the Leaf and Qashqai as part of Nissan’s £1 billion EV Hub investment. The Japanese automaker is targeting a price close to the current ICE Juke, which starts around £21,000, though even Nissan admits that will be “a challenge” given battery costs.

The current petrol-powered Juke isn’t going anywhere just yet. Its life cycle will be extended, meaning both ICE and EV versions will be sold side by side for a period—mirroring Nissan’s gradual approach to electrification.

A Familiar Face with a Shocking Twist

The Juke EV is shaping up to be exactly what you’d expect from a car wearing the Juke badge: compact, controversial, and confidently weird. It won’t just be an electric crossover—it’ll be a statement piece in a world where many EVs look and feel the same.

Whether that’s enough to tempt buyers away from the likes of the Ford Puma Gen-E or Kia EV3 will depend on more than styling. But if Nissan’s gamble pays off, the Marmite crossover might just become the electric disruptor the segment didn’t know it needed.

Source: Autocar

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Nissan’s Balancing Act: Bruised, But Back on Its Feet

If the auto industry were a boxing match, Nissan’s first half of fiscal 2025 would be that brutal middle round where the fighter’s on the ropes — gloves up, bruised, but still in the fight. The Yokohama heavyweight just reported a 27.7-billion-yen operating loss on revenues of 5.6 trillion yen. It’s not pretty, but there’s fight in this one yet.

The Numbers: Blood, Sweat, and Yen

Between April and September 2025, Nissan shifted 1.48 million cars globally. That’s a lot of metal, but not enough to keep the balance sheet in the black. Compared to last year, revenue slipped by 405 billion yen, and the operating margin swung from a modest +0.5% to a worrying -0.5%.

Blame part of that on tariffs, foreign exchange turbulence (JPY 146/USD, JPY 168/EUR), and some painful accounting for its Chinese joint venture. The net result? A thumping 221.9-billion-yen loss, largely thanks to impairments and restructuring costs.

Still, the financial scaffolding’s holding up — 3.6 trillion yen in liquidity and a beefy 2.2 trillion in cash give Nissan breathing room. Think of it as a solid roll cage after a high-speed spin.

A Tale of Two Quarters

Look closer, and there’s a flicker of good news. The second quarter actually delivered an operating profit — 51.5 billion yen — an improvement of nearly 20 billion year-on-year. That’s no small feat in today’s brutal automotive landscape, where semiconductor prices, logistics, and tariffs bite harder than a GT-R launch control.

Net income was still negative, but directionally, it’s progress — a sign the Re:Nissan turnaround plan might be starting to grip.

Re:Nissan: The Makeover in Motion

Nissan’s comeback strategy, poetically titled Re:Nissan, is now moving into second gear. The company claims it’s already achieved over 80 billion yen in fixed-cost reductions and aims to exceed 150 billion by year’s end.

That’s not all. The brand’s aiming for a 20% improvement in engineering efficiency — already 12% there — and slashing parts complexity across its lineup. Less overlap, more precision. It’s the corporate equivalent of a weight-reduction program before track day.

And then there’s the bold real estate move: Nissan’s selling its global HQ in Yokohama, only to lease it back for 20 years. It sounds dramatic, but the cash infusion will fund modernization and, frankly, it shows a company serious about leaner, meaner operations.

Eyes on 2026

The goal? Breakeven operating profit excluding U.S. tariff impacts this year, and a clean return to the black by fiscal 2026. With 200 billion yen in identified variable-cost savings and a fresh pipeline of models, the outlook’s more promising than the current P&L might suggest.

Ivan Espinosa, Nissan’s CEO, put it plainly: “We face challenges, but we are firmly on the path to recovery.” And with momentum building behind new-gen cars like the LEAF and Roox — and more EVs, hybrids, and possibly some spicy N-badged specials in the pipeline — the optimism might just be justified.

Nissan’s story right now isn’t about victory laps — it’s about endurance. The bruises are real, but so is the resolve. Under the Re:Nissan plan, the company’s doing what TopGear loves best: tearing something down and rebuilding it stronger, lighter, and faster.

The road to 2026 won’t be smooth. But if Nissan can stay the course — cutting fat, launching fresh metal, and proving that Japanese engineering still knows how to thrill — then this could be the comeback drive of the decade.

Source: Nissan

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Nissan’s COMPAS Plant to Shut Down as Automaker Tightens Global Operations

Nissan’s global restructuring plan is claiming another victim. Earlier this year, the automaker announced it would shutter its CIVAC plant in Cuernavaca, Mexico, consolidating production at its Aguascalientes facilities. Now, the company’s joint-venture COMPAS plant in Aguascalientes—the one it shares with Mercedes-Benz—is also on borrowed time.

Brian Brockman, Nissan’s vice president of communications for the Americas, confirmed to Wards Auto that the COMPAS plant will close “in the near future.” While he stopped short of giving a specific date, production of the Infiniti QX50 and QX55 will wrap up this November. Mercedes-Benz, however, will keep the lights on a bit longer, continuing to assemble the GLB until May 2026.

It’s an unceremonious end for a factory that was once a symbol of collaboration. Opened in 2017, the COMPAS (Cooperation Manufacturing Plant Aguascalientes) facility was a high-profile joint venture between Nissan and Mercedes, envisioned as a flexible manufacturing hub for both brands’ compact luxury crossovers and sedans. But the partnership gradually unraveled as the Infiniti models failed to gain traction and Mercedes quietly pulled the plug on the A-Class in the U.S. market.

Sales numbers tell the story: through the first nine months of the year, Infiniti managed to sell just 4,994 QX50s in the United States—a drop of 36.6 percent compared to last year. The QX55, the sleeker coupe sibling, found only 1,931 buyers. Those figures hardly justify a dedicated assembly line.

According to Brockman, the closure “is part of a previously announced plan and reflects broader strategic shifts within the company.” That’s corporate shorthand for Nissan’s Re:Nissan recovery plan, a multi-year restructuring effort aimed at reducing global capacity and tightening the company’s focus. The initiative has already led to the closure of the Oppama plant in Japan and could claim up to seven manufacturing facilities worldwide.

The math is simple but brutal: Nissan wants to trim annual production capacity from 3.5 million vehicles to around 2.5 million while pushing factory utilization to near 100 percent. Fewer plants, but fuller ones.

The timing, however, is rough. Nissan recently revised its financial outlook for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026, painting a picture of cautious progress amid continued turbulence. The company now expects an operating loss of ¥30 billion ($195 million) for the first half of the year—a major improvement from earlier forecasts of a ¥180 billion ($1.17 billion) shortfall. But the full-year outlook remains grim: projected revenues of ¥11.7 trillion ($76 billion) paired with a net loss of ¥275 billion ($1.79 billion).

The company cites the usual suspects—supply chain disruptions, currency fluctuations, tariffs, and geopolitical uncertainty—as key headwinds.

For Infiniti, the end of production at COMPAS leaves big questions about its future manufacturing footprint. The brand has struggled for years to define its identity and justify its existence in a crowded luxury segment increasingly dominated by German and Korean rivals. With the QX50 and QX55 gone, Infiniti’s lineup looks thinner than ever.

As the COMPAS plant winds down, it’s hard not to see it as a cautionary tale: a bold alliance between two automakers that promised synergy but delivered little more than shared losses.

Source: Nissan, Wards Auto