Today Nissan announced its list of concepts that will bow at the Geneva Auto Show next month. There are two world premiers in the group, the Invitation and one other that the company is keeping closely guarded.

The Invitation, which from what we can tell is a lot like a cooler version of the Versa, will feature Nissan’s Around View Monitor (AVM) which gives a bird’s eye view of the car for easy parking.

“The future product vision promised by these four concept vehicles – when added to the strength and depth of our full range – shows the confidence coursing through every aspect of Nissan today. We are on target to become the top Asian brand right across Europe by 2016,” said Paul Wilcox, the senior vice president of sales and marketing in Europe.

Aside from the Invitation and the secret concept which has us wondering, the company will also display the Juke NISMO concept that will wear speedy-looking trim on the dressed-up Juke, but little in actual performance improvements.

The e-NV200 is Nissan’s next foray into the EV market and will first gain entry to the U.S. market as a fleet of New York City taxi cabs. The e-NV200 will be the fourth and final concept unveiled by Nissan at the Geneva show.

Nissan announced today that it will be revealing a new B-segment concept car called the Invitation at next month’s Geneva Auto Show.

The little car that slips between Nissan’s Micra and Juke vehicles in the European market is aimed to attain the company’s Pure Drive badge for efficiency with 100g/km CO2 emission. What isn’t clear is if we’re looking at a replacement to the brand’s current B-segment car, the Versa.

Few actual specifications are available now, but François Bancon, deputy division general manager of product strategy and product planning division, said “the name we have given to this concept is self-explanatory. It is designed to be inviting thanks to its sensuous exterior design and generous and comfortable interior space, cleverly packaged within compact overall dimensions.”

The interior has a futuristic feel that Nissan said will have “impressive levels of quality and purposeful technology features.”

We do know that the Invitation will feature Nissan’s Around View Monitor (AVM) safety technology, though looking at the pictures reveals an array of colorful buttons that we’re curious to jump in and press, making the Invitation seem surprisingly cordial.

GALLERY: Nissan Invitation Concept

Pricing details are now available for the rethought 2012 Honda Crosstour featuring a more cost-minded four-cylinder engine.

The 2012 Crosstour will start at $27,655 and go all the way up to $36,540 for the four-wheel drive version with navigation. At the base price, you get a 192-horsepower engine that squeaks out an extra three miles-per-gallon in the city and two on the highway. The 271-horsepower V6, which is unchanged over previous models, is still available as well.

The company made the official announcement about their plans to launch a less expansive version of their crossover last December. They hoped it would help the Crosstour finally feel marketable in light of failed sales. Despite that failure, Honda still seems confident and determined to make the Crosstour work.

“The new four-cylinder Crosstour offers sleek design, unmatched passenger comfort and ingenious functionality now with four-cylinder pricing and fuel economy,” said John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda Motor Co. “With four-cylinder and V6 options and a long list of standard features, Crosstour should be on every CUV buyer’s shopping list.”

That might be how Honda feels, but the Crosstour has been consistantly criticized as the ugly duckling in the lineup. Consmers complain that it’s too much like a larger Accord, which makes sense because that’s how it was originally marketed.

Speaking of ugly ducklings, it’s probably important to point out that the top-of-the-line Nissan Juke sells for about $4000 less than the base Crosstour. It also gets better mileage than the two-wheel drive crosstour, with all-wheel drive. Sure, you sacrifice four horsepower, but who cares?

The only new selling point for Honda’s less potent 2012 Crosstour is a lower price, but we say that fails to deliver against the competition.

Gallery: 2012 Honda Crosstour

We just can’t get enough of the Nissan Juke-R project, and probably won’t until we get our grubby little hands behind its steering wheel. But until then, we’ll just have to continue living vicariously through those fortunate enough to experience the monster first hand.

While it was in Dubai to pace the 24 Hour race, Nissan took its Juke-R out to the Dubai International Marina where a makeshift course was created and the funky Japanese crossover was pitted against a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, a Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 and a Ferrari 458 Italia. You know, just some of Germany and Italy’s finest supercars.

Now it goes without saying that we’d expect the Juke-R to look mighty impressive in the video against the exotics since it was probably staged by Nissan. But there’s no denying just how remarkable its performance looks and how undoubtedly fun it was for Lucas Ordonez, the first GT Academy winner, to pilot it. And obviously by watching the video, the drivers were putting on a show more than they were looking for a fast lap time.

We just hope a better resolution video surfaces soon.

Check out the video below.

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Fox Marketing has been building project cars for over a decade now, and it appears that Nissan‘s Juke-R project has inspired them to tackle the funky crossover themselves. They’re not in the mood to one-up the Juke-R project though, as Fox Marketing has always specialized in building projects any real car enthusiast could do also.

The team will utilize Nissan’s factory 1.6L AWD powertrain but will add a custom intercooled turbo setup in order to motivate it to 400-hp. Braking will be upgraded with a six-piston, 14-inch setup while custom 20×9-inch wheels will adorn all four corners. Fox Marketing will also add a simple, yet clean and functional aerodynamic kit to the exterior while performance springs will handle the suspension duties.

Once the body modifications are completed, BASF will contribute with some Foxy Orange paint while the interior will feature racing seats from Yonaka’s Ronin line. Fox Marketing anticipates the project to make its official debut in the coming months, so we’ll keep our eyes out.

GALLERY: Fox Marketing Nisasn Juke-S Renders

Nissan‘s Juke-R project may not be the favorite of Nissan executives, but there’s no denying the amount of brilliance that’s been packed into this custom crossover project.

Now the team has a new bragging right, with the Juke-R being confirmed as the world’s fastest crossover. That’s probably not a huge surprise considering they shoehorned the GT-R’s 3.8L twin-turbocharged V6 powerplant into the body, packing 480-hp. In addition, the Juke-R has the GT-R’s all-wheel-drive system, gearbox and suspension.

The numbers posted say that the Juke-R does a 0-62 mph sprint in just 3.7-seconds with a top speed of 160-mph. Compare that to the standard Juke that does 0-62 mph in 8.6-seconds and has a top speed of 124-mph.

Currently only two Juke-Rs exist in this world, one left-hand-drive and one right-hand-drive. Too bad there’s probably little to no chance it will ever make it to production – especially considering the costs, but it should inspire Nissan to pump just a tad bit more performance into the Juke. You know, to go along with those good looks.

GALLERY: Nissan Juke-R

[Source: WorldCarFans]

Nissan shows off its new direction for Nismo at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show by introducing performance models on less expensive vehicles such as the Juke. Even though none of the details are finalized, Nissan did stress that an expansion is occurring and bringing Nismo to markets outside of Japan has become a priority.

There’s no doubt Nismo is hugely popular with the Nissan crowd here in America, from their 370Z to even 240sx enthusiasts. We’re not 100-percent sure we like the direction that Nismo is taking by offering tuning packages for less expensive vehicles, but we do like the sound of lower costs on their products.

As of now, Nismo will continue on the path of developing engine upgrades, suspension parts, braking components, interior trim and aerodynamic packages for various Nissan models hopefully giving American retailers a new avenue for parts sales.

[Source: Automotive News]

Nissan is recalling 118,000 Juke crossovers world wide due to a pair of defects that could pose problems for owners. Nissan says that the door locks could freeze in cold-weather, presenting an annoying problem for owners in cold climates. In addition, a boost pressure sensor on the turbocharger may malfunction, causing a check engine light to appear.

Both issues aren’t exactly critical, but definitely could be annoying for affected owners. Nissan also said that the issues were regional, with Japan, North America and certain European countries affected by the door lock issue. Virtually every continent save for Australia is affected by the turbocharger issue. Nearly every Juke sold worldwide – 118,000 in total, will have to have something fixed.

Prior to heading out to Silverstone where some very lucky journalists got to enjoy Nissan‘s Juke-R project in the flesh, the development team took the vehicle to MIRA’s proving ground to give it some shakedown runs, tweaking and tuning the crossover to perfection.

And quite frankly, we love how Nissan describes the Juke-R on this particular video: “It looks like a Juke but sounds like a GT-R, and performs like one on its first circuit tests.” On the list of vehicles we’d love to take for a spin, this has not surprisingly reached towards the top and the video after the break doesn’t help ease our eagerness.

The GT-R powered Juke packs 485-hp in the funky crossover body and is admittedly a brilliant way to get people interested in the Juke. Chances are we’ll never see a production vehicle like this, but Nissan loves stressing that the Juke-R is street legal and this is just a small taste of what’s to come with their project.

Check out the video after the break.

[Source: Carscoop]

The automotive world is filled with comparison tests, but these usually are held between two or more cars that are currently on sale.

What Inside Line did was pit an old Datsun 510 versus a new Nissan Juke. You might think that the Juke would have an unfair advantage, but the 510 they brought out to this comparo was not an ordinary, run of the mill model. No, it is a rally spec version that has been gutted of its interior to save weight and been given a roll cage for safety. It also has skid plates to protect its parts.

The Juke on the other hand was a completely stock model. Both cars recorded their time on a 2.6-mile gravel road.

And the winner is… well you’ll have to watch the video to find out which was just less than a second quicker.

Check out the video after the jump

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