The Nissan Juke recently celebrated its seventh anniversary and it appears the company is planning to celebrate the occasion by killing it off.
According to two sources who spoke to The Truth About Cars, Nissan plans to phase out the Juke after the 2017 or 2018 model year. The news isn’t all bad as the model will reportedly be replaced by the Kicks which was introduced last year.
While the compact crossover market is red hot right now, the Juke is about as warm as yesterday’s leftovers. Last month, the company only managed to sell 986 units in the United States which is a massive 47.8 percent drop from a year ago. The only cars to fare worse than the Juke were the Quest minivan, the 370Z, and the GT-R.
Nissan declined to comment on the rumors but Nissan North America’s Vice President of Product Planning, Michael Bunce, has previously suggested the Kicks could come stateside. At the time, he said “Certainly we see the opportunity for more mainstream crossovers that are less niche, and we see Honda and others in that space and are taking it very seriously.”
Bunce also hinted the model would be cheaper than the Juke and compete with small crossover such as the Chevrolet Trax and Honda HR-V.