The Japanese automaker Nissan will add a fourth crossover to their lineup at the Geneva Motor Show with the all new Juke. Inspired by the current Qazana concept. The compact CUV will be slotted somewhere between the compact family car, Note, and the other crossover, the Qashqai. According to the manufacturer, "The Nissan Juke has been designed and developed to give customers an alternative to the traditional small hatchback in Europe." and will feature a fresh fun design like the Kia Soul and open up a whole new market segment for Nissan.

Press release after the jump.

Press release

 One month before its global media unveil on February 10th, Nissan today confirms the name of its forthcoming small Crossover. The Nissan Juke will go on sale from October, following its global public premiere at Geneva Motor Show in March.
 
The Nissan Juke will inject some much-needed dynamism into the small car segment, offering European car-buyers an alternative to the traditional, uninspiring small hatchback. As the fourth Crossover in Nissan’s European range, “Juke” reinforces the brand’s pioneering Crossover leadership in Europe.
 
The car was inspired by the Qazana concept car that received such a warm reception at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show, and will fit into the Nissan range between the Note compact family car and the Qashqai crossover.
 
Nissan’s customer research identified a large proportion of European small and compact car buyers whose needs are not met by what they perceive to be uninspiring and unoriginal options available to them where copycat hatchbacks dominate.
 
 The Nissan Juke has been designed and developed to give customers an alternative to the traditional small hatchback in Europe.
 
“We know that there are a lot of customers looking for a car which combines striking design, agile handling and driving pleasure, user friendly technology but not at the expense of practicality and convenience. These unique attributes will allow Juke to occupy a unique corner of the European market,” said Simon Thomas, Nissan’s European Senior Vice President for Sales and Marketing.
 
“Nissan caught the mood of the European car-buying public with Qashqai crossover and we’ve worked hard to study the market in the same way for Juke to be sure we meet the needs of European customers. We’re confident that Juke will bring a new generation of customers to Nissan, in the same way that Qashqai did. Our philosophy of challenging conventions with Qashqai has been a huge success. We’ve just reached the 500,000 landmark and we’re applying many of the lessons learned from Qashqai to Juke. We’re confident we’ll have another success on our hands,” added Simon Thomas.
 
Juke will be manufactured alongside the Qashqai, Qashqai+2 and Note at Nissan’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Sunderland, Great Britain.
 
With the introduction of Murano in the US in 2003, the Crossover concept was introduced to consumers who were looking for a vehicle that combined the dynamic design and handling characteristics of a passenger car, but with the added benefit of all-wheel drive traction and the improved visibility of a raised seating position, but without the boxy shape of an SUV.