The Nissan Juke has hit 1MILLION sales and kept thousands of Brits in work — and the Juke 2 has plenty to offer too

BRITAIN has a lot to be proud of this past decade.

There’s London 2012 for starters, Adele, Ed Sheeran, two Royal Weddings, Abu Hamza’s exit and, of course, our seamless split from Europe.

In the car world, we should doff our hats to the humble Nissan Juke. I’m serious.

Almost ten years after the fugly crossover was born, Juke has chalked up ONE MILLION sales and kept thousands of Brits in work.

To put that in context, a million Jukes parked end to end would stretch from Nissan’s Sunderland factory to Barcelona and back.

And Barca is where you find me driving the all-new Juke 2. Good link paragraph, if I say so myself.

OUT go the cartoon looks of the original, most notably the bug-eye headlights, and IN comes a more sophisticated, roomier Juke with a tech-rich cabin. I like it.

It’s fair to say only Warwick Davis or a contortionist could fit in the back of the outgoing Juke. It’s a leeetle bit cramped. That’s now sorted. Juke 2 has more space in all directions, including 6cm more knee room, and the boot is a fifth bigger at 422 litres, matching a Qashqai.

As for tech, the kit list is as long as your arm and includes 8in touchscreen, Apple CarPlay, wifi for eight devices, TomTom satnav with Google Street View, Bose headrest speakers and ProPilot.

That last one combines adaptive cruise control, lane assist and traffic jam stop/go.

I’m sure Nissan would like me to tell you that ProPilot takes the stress out of long journeys. And it will. But we’re getting creepily close to self-driving cars.

Intelligent services include curfew, speed and zone alerts if you’re daft enough to let family blag the car for the night.

But do you know what? Put all that connectivity and driver assistance to one side and it is the simple things that please most.

The soft-to-touch armrests and dashboard, chunky air-con dials, tilt and slide steering wheel, split-floor boot and the Mini-like illuminated ring around the gearbox. You’re getting a lot of car for 17 grand. Two-tone paint is standard too.

One thing did amuse me though: Who decided we still need a compass in 2019?

Now let’s talk about the changes you can’t see. Juke 2 has uprated front suspension, bigger brakes, quicker steering and is lighter, stiffer and longer.

All of which combine to make the car feel more controlled and darty and fun.

Engine choice is easy as there’s only one.

It’s a fruity 115hp 1-litre three-cylinder turbo petrol, either with a six-speed manual or seven-speed auto. The chassis could easily handle more. No diesel. Hybrids to follow in 2020.

Now this might be wishful thinking but we could even see the return of Juke Nismo.

Nissan has a Note e-Power Nismo S in Japan which is a range-extender hybrid and it could well be applied to the Juke here. Do it.

To conclude, then. Juke had next to no competition when it pioneered the crossover segment in 2010.

Today, it has 24 rivals including the Vauxhall Mokka X, Toyota C-HR, VW T-Cross, Renault Captur and so on.

You’d be perfectly happy in any of them but you’d get a warmer glow backing the Brit.

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