One month before its global unveiling, Nissan has confirmed the name of its forthcoming small crossover. The Nissan Juke will go on sale in Ireland from October, following its global public premiere at Geneva Motor Show in March.

The Juke will inject some 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 plans for Europe.

The car was inspired by the Qazana concept car that received 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 research identified a large proportion of European small and compact car buyers whose needs are not met by what they perceive to be unoriginal options available to them where copycat hatchbacks dominate.

"The 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 that are 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 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 captured the mood of the European car-buying public with the Qashqai crossover and the company has studied the market in the same way for Juke to be sure it hits the same notes. The Qashqai challenged conventions and has been a huge success – reaching 500,000 sales. In the Irish market it is a clear leader with 80 per cent of sales in its segment. Nissan now plans to apply the lessons learned from Qashqai to Juke.