Nissan Confirms NISMO Juke Going on Sale in Europe [Geneva Auto Show]

At last year's Tokyo auto show, Nissan announced plans to expand the worldwide scope of its NISMO performance parts division and showed off the NISMO Juke concept (pictured above). While the concept previewed a potential turnkey performance Juke variant along the lines of the NISMO 370Z sold here in the U.S., the NISMO Juke is hypothetical no more—at least in Europe. At Nissan's press conference at the Geneva auto show, Paul Willcox, senior vice president in Europe, confirmed that the spicier Juke would go on sale by the end of the year. No other details were provided, so the NISMO Juke's production form remains a mystery for now. The concept benefited from a power bump, a lowered and stiffened suspension, a body kit, 19-inch wheels, and several NISMO-specific interior touches. It's worth mentioning that this Juke is a very different animal from the Juke-R that we recently drove. That car marries the Nissan GT-R's running gear with the radically altered body of a Juke in a concoction best described as "bananas." Since we're pretty sure you're thinking it by now, let us inform you that Nissan has yet to confirm any plans to bring the NISMO Juke to Amercica. We're told that the company's current focus is on launching the NISMO brand and the Juke in Europe, and that the announcement in Tokyo emphasized a global product expansion. So a NISMO-fettled Juke may be a possibility for the U.S., but we'll have to wait and see. from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com

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