Cash in on the Qashqai
SHOULD you splash out on the new third-generation Nissan Qashqai? As production gets under way at the British plant ahead of its imminent arrival in showrooms and on UK roads, I’ve been driving one to find out. Evolution not revolution is clearly the Nissan strategy for a car which in 2007 transformed the market by creating a whole new popular class of car: the compact SUV.
It certainly has a bold and appealing ‘face’ with those dramatic V-shaped vector lines, and the new version feels sharper with some important tweaks to the design, tech and general usability, plus softer-touch fabrics.
The new Qashqai is a smooth, practical and comfortable operator in a much tougher market with the likes of the Peugeot 3008, Hyundai Tucson, Volkswagen Tiguan, and Renault Kadjar snapping at its heels.
The car is priced from £23,535 for the entry level Visia trim up to £37,835 for the top-of-the-range Tekna+ Xtronic automatic.
The new Qashqai is available both as a petrol-electric hybrid and mild-hybrid, but not as a diesel. Initially, customers can choose between a 1.3-litre fourcylinder mild-hybrid petrol version offered with two power outputs; 138 hp and 156 hp.
I was driving the more powerful of these two, linked to a smooth six-speed manual transmission.
Riding on 20 in wheels, my Qashqai 1.3-litre Tekna+ had a good amount of pace, accelerating from rest to 62mph in 9.5 seconds up to a top speed of 128 mph.
The driver’s seat feels both comfortable and spacious. The flexible boot space is up by 74litres to 504litres. Push the rear seats down and the space expands to 1,379 litres.
Nearly four million Qashqais have been designed, engineered and built in Britain since the first generation was launched in 2007, the second following in 2014.
Japan’s Nissan has hailed the new Qashqais a huge vote of confidence in post-Brexit Britain and has invested £400million to produce them in Sunderland.