The Nissan Juke is now officially in Thailand, making it the sixth ASEAN country to get Nissan’s B-segment crossover after Indonesia, Vietnam, Brunei, and Singapore.
The Thai-spec Juke is sourced from Indonesia and gets a 1.6 litre HR16 engine that produces 116 PS at 5,600 rpm and 154 Nm of torque at 4,000 rpm, mated to a CVT. It’s a different combo from the Indonesian-spec car, which uses a slightly less powerful 114 PS/150 Nm 1.5 litre engine and a CVT.
The Juke comes with Integrated Control (I-Con), a system which manages both climate control and 3 vehicle drive modes: normal for everyday driving, sport for sportier driving or eco for fuel efficiency.
There’s also the Internet Connectivity Entertainment (I-Connect) system, which allows you to surf the internet through wi-fi on a detachable 7-inch screen. The system also has a voice control function.
E and V trim levels are offered, and prices start from 819,000 baht (RM82,400). By comparison, the most affordable 1.2 litre Nissan Almera with a CVT is priced from 489,000 baht (RM49,200). The current Toyota Vios is priced from 589,000 baht (RM59,300) for the most affordable automatic variant up to 734,000 baht (RM73,900) for the S Auto variant. So the Juke isn’t exactly cheap.
There has been plenty of interest in a crossover body style for the B-segment recently, with manufacturers launching cars like the Ford EcoSport and the Peugeot 2008 to cash in, and both the EcoSport and 2008 are coming to Malaysia. You could say the Juke pretty much pioneered the segment in recent times – will Tan Chong bring it in?
