2014 Nissan Juke Now on Sale with 2013 MSRP

As was the case for stable-mates like the 2014 Nissan Murano, the 2014 Nissan Juke enters the new model year with a starting price that is unchanged from the previous one, and sits at $18,990. Now, also like the Murano, the 2014 Nissan Juke itself remains essentially unchanged from the 2013 iteration, but that’s much less of an issue with the Juke. With styling that really has to be seen to be believed, as well as a standout turbocharged powertrain, the vehicle still delivers a fresh and distinctive ownership experience.

That shows up in the sales numbers, too. It’s hard to pigeonhole something like the 2014 Nissan Juke, but if we compare it to a random selection of the industry’s smaller niche players, the Juke’s results still look pretty good on the 2013 year-to-date sales leaderboard:

Kia Soul—90,624 sales, down 2.9 percent

VW Beetle—43,918 sales, up 61.9 percent

Mini Cooper—32,374 sales, down 2.4 percent

Fiat 500—28,994 sales, down 11.4 percent

Nissan Juke—28,307 sales, down 0.8 percent

Hyundai Veloster—23,273 sales, down 17.9 percent

Mini Countryman—15,596 sales, up 1.6 percent

Scion xB—13,992 sales, down 10.3 percent

Nissan Cube—4,422 sales, down 23.9 percent

Oh, and there is one upgrade to the 2014 Nissan Juke lineup that should make an impact on the standings, and that would be a full year’s worth of sales from the NISMO-fied model …

2014 Nissan Juke NISMO: Juke-R Junior

Nissan had earlier this year announced that its motorsports division—NISMO—would be working its magic on more of the automaker’s production vehicles, and the 2014 Nissan Juke NISMO is one of the projects first efforts. And while it may not be able to keep pace with the insane Nissan Juke-R and its 545-hp twin-turbo V6, it also won’t be limited to a handful of customers and wear a $600,000 price tag.

The 2014 Nissan Juke NISMO actually starts at just $22,990, with motivation coming from a NISMO-tuned version of the starter model’s 1.6-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine. As a result, drivers enjoy a noticeable bump of 9 hp and 7 lb.-ft. of torque, with the vehicle’s outputs topping out at 197 hp and 184 lb.-ft. of torque. An enthusiast-satisfying six-speed manual transmission is standard in the front-wheel-drive Juke NISMO, while models with Nissan’s torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive technology get a sport-tuned CVT.

At the same time, an aero body kit has been deployed to deliver a 37 percent increase in downforce over the non-NISMO Juke, and a NISMO-enhanced suspension is in place for improved corner-carving capabilities. These performance-oriented upgrades are then complemented by NISMO design cues like sport seats (with prominent bolsters) and 18-inch aluminum-alloy wheels.

Even better, there’s no fall-off in fuel-efficiency despite the increased performance abilities of the 2014 Nissan Juke NISMO. The manually transmissioned Juke NISMO gets the same 25 mpg city/31 mpg highway/27 mpg combined as the Juke SV with a similar gearbox, while the CVT-equipped NISMO vehicle, with AWD, posts the same EPA line as its non-NISMO counterpart, at 25/30/27.

With these advantages and more, the 2014 Nissan Juke lineup is on sale now.