#NismoJuke

Nissan has officially kicked off a new era for its performance arm, Nismo, and has officially opened the new Nismo global headquarters and development center in Yokohama, Japan.

Nissan‘s in-house tuning company has touched up the brand’s smallest crossover, and the finished product will be heading to dealerships very soon.

Towards the end of last year, Nissan announced its plans to expand its NISMO performance sub-brand and there’s no better way to garner attention among young enthusiast buyers than to display those vehicles at the 2013 Tokyo Auto Salon.

Last year, Nissan announced that it had plans to expand its NISMO subsidiary, transforming it into a more mainstream performance brand – similar to what Lexus has done with its F-Sport line.

It’s not quite the menacing Juke R, but Nissan has created a themed Juke NISMO model drawing its inspiration from the movie The Dark Knight Rises.

At least year’s Tokyo Motor Show, Nismo teased things to come with a Juke Nismo Concept model, and an electric Leaf Nismo model. It appears the performance division of Nissan is going full speed ahead with new Nismo performance models, including more extreme RS versions.

When the Nissan Juke R was first introduced, the championship race car builders over at RML managed to take the ugliest crossover in the world and turn it into the world’s fastest while making it look awesome.

Nissan has announced an extensive 10-car lineup for the upcoming Tokyo Auto Salon including everything from modified minivans to GT-R race car. Following roughly a month after the Tokyo Motor Show, the salon is in many ways Japan’s version of SEMA, giving aftermarket tuners and race shops a chance to show their wares.

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.

It’s definitely not as awesome as the Juke-R, but the Nissan Juke Nismo Concept is probably a more realistic variant of the Juke and gives the first glimpse into Nismo’s future. Featuring a lower, wider and tougher stance, the Juke Nismo Concept received an aerodynamic-enhancing body kit, more power from a tuned engine, a stiffer chassis, larger tires, sporty interior treatment and a Nismo-colored paint scheme.