Photo: Kleber Silva on Behance
At the present moment, Nissan offers mid- and full-size workhorses pretty much everywhere across the world. But does the Japanese automaker need a smaller pickup with crossover styling to attract new customers and make a profit as well?
Rendered by pixel artist Kleber Silva, this cutesy little unibody crosstruck based on the Juke is one potential outcome. There are, however, a few problems that make it useless in comparison to the likes of the Nissan Frontier and other mid-size pickups.
First and foremost, take a look at the cargo area. When GMC rolled out the Hummer EV, people were pretty baffled by the bed. There’s nothing bad about it at first glance, but at five feet long, you’re better off with a small-boxed Chevrolet Colorado. Now take a minute to imagine how long the bed of the Juke Pickup would be in real life.
The second issue is pricing. Converting the Juke into a truck costs a bit of money, and in places like Europe where crossovers are very popular, it makes little sense for a potential customer to spend extra for the more utilitarian body style. Adding insult to injury, pickup sales have declined on the Old Continent by 4 percent last year.
You also have to remember that Nissan would arrive late at the party if the Japanese automaker were to start developing a unibody truck today. Hyundai is almost ready to roll out the Santa Cruz in the United States, the Blue Oval is developing the Maverick, and even Volkswagen has jumped on the bandwagon with the Tarok.
Last, but certainly not least, Nissan doesn’t use torque-converter automatic transmissions in this kind of vehicle. A CVT is a very bad choice for a pickup, let alone a CVT designed and produced by JATCO. Oh, and by the way, you can’t get the second-gen Juke with an engine larger than one whole liter.
These being said, I think we can all agree that Nissan won't venture away from the Navara, Frontier, and Titan.
First and foremost, take a look at the cargo area. When GMC rolled out the Hummer EV, people were pretty baffled by the bed. There’s nothing bad about it at first glance, but at five feet long, you’re better off with a small-boxed Chevrolet Colorado. Now take a minute to imagine how long the bed of the Juke Pickup would be in real life.
The second issue is pricing. Converting the Juke into a truck costs a bit of money, and in places like Europe where crossovers are very popular, it makes little sense for a potential customer to spend extra for the more utilitarian body style. Adding insult to injury, pickup sales have declined on the Old Continent by 4 percent last year.
You also have to remember that Nissan would arrive late at the party if the Japanese automaker were to start developing a unibody truck today. Hyundai is almost ready to roll out the Santa Cruz in the United States, the Blue Oval is developing the Maverick, and even Volkswagen has jumped on the bandwagon with the Tarok.
Last, but certainly not least, Nissan doesn’t use torque-converter automatic transmissions in this kind of vehicle. A CVT is a very bad choice for a pickup, let alone a CVT designed and produced by JATCO. Oh, and by the way, you can’t get the second-gen Juke with an engine larger than one whole liter.
These being said, I think we can all agree that Nissan won't venture away from the Navara, Frontier, and Titan.
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