Zeekr X (awd) vs Nissan Juke

What's the difference?

Zeekr is a new electric brand and the X small SUV is one of its first cars to come to Australia.

Owned by the Chinese carmaker Geely, which also has a big stake in Volvo, the X is designed in Sweden, built in China and now sold here.

Rivals to this little electric SUV include the Smart #1, Volvo EX30 and Xpeng G6.

The Zeekr X line-up is currently very simple - there’s the rear-wheel drive version and the all-wheel drive we tested. 

The Nissan Juke was meant to herald a new era for Nissan in Australia.

It was the first in a slew of new-generation SUVs and has now been joined by the Qashqai, X-Trail, and Pathfinder as part of a new-look Nissan.

Unlike those others, though, the Juke hasn’t quite resonated with buyers. Since arriving to what Nissan probably expected to be fanfare back in 2020, the new Juke has since sunk to the bottom of its compact SUV segment, outselling only a handful of other models.

So, what went wrong? Is the quirky styling of the Juke too much? Are there too many appealing choices in the compact SUV space? Alternatively, could the Juke be an underrated gem worth checking out?

I find myself in an upper mid-spec ST-L to find out.