Qashqai's the cash cow for Nissan's fortunes
WHO would ever have thought that naming a car after a desert dwelling nomadic tribe from South West Iran would bring Nissan sales success they had probably hitherto only dreamed off, writes Robin Auchterlonie.
But the Qashqai (in hindsight it really should have been named the Cash Cow) did just that, as well as spawning a series of entertaining TV ads extolling its virtues and helping Nissan to their biggest share of the UK market for six years.
Together with its larger Qashqai+2 sibling and the striking Murano – the car that was at the forefront of the whole crossover genre back in 2005 – it brings together in one package the best of all worlds: the fun-to-drive dynamic abilities more usually associated with conventional passenger cars as well as the tough stance, excellent interior packaging and 'command' seating position of an SUV.
Qashqai's appeal shows in its outstanding reception in the marketplace – since launch in March 2007, it's turned into the fastest selling model in the history of Nissan Europe and over 500,000 Qashqais and Qashqai+2s had been delivered by the end of 2009.
And now it's had a mid life nip-tuck to freshen it up for the sales race ahead as more and more manufacturers realise there's money to be had by sticking a decent crossover in their sales brochure.
Qashqai's front has had a complete makeover and an all new bonnet, front bumper, wings, grille and headlamps combine to give it an air of premium sophistication, presence and quality.
At the rear, the overall shape of the lights remains unchanged, but they now include an aerodynamic feature to reduce drag. A more transparent lens design has been adopted, with the upper portion, housing the reversing lights and indicators, being clear, while the lower section with the brake and night time running lights, is red. Additionally, the brake and tail lights operate using 12 LEDs for maximum clarity.
The styling changes together with a series of other modifications around the car have had the benefit of improving aerodynamic efficiency and thus the car's fuel consumption.
Inside, there's a new design to the main dials which gives added clarity and legibility and the redesigned drive computer features a new white LCD screen. Further improvements see low-level lighting around the front footwells, giving a warmer ambience inside.
There's more oddment storage for added convenience, with a new cubby at the base of the central cluster which is ideal for a mobile phone or portable audio player. Life on board the Qashqai has been made even more comfortable thanks to an all-new multi-layer insulation material around the front bulkhead and an 'acoustic' windscreen which reduces the transmission of noise. You'll also notice a reduction in wind noise around the A-pillar, which they've achieved by changing the window sealing.
The ride quality has to my mind always been good but that hasn't stopped them tweaking the suspension to make ride comfort that little bit better and the Qashqai itself a touch more responsive to steering inputs.
And for better visibility the 2010 model has a higher seating position than before.
ESP is now fitted as standard across range adding to the Qashqai's reassuring safety equipment, Acenta and above gain a Speed Limiter and Tekna models now feature a Bose speaker system.
One of the most significant changes to the range is the addition of a new Pure Drive variant. Wearing the badge reserved only for the Nissan models with the most environmentally efficient economy and emissions, this special Qashqai produces only 129g/km of CO2, reduced from the 137g/km of the standard model.
Qashqai is a credit to Nissan's Britishness. It was designed in London, developed down the road at Cranfield and is built in Sunderland. A British Japanese car that's been an undoubted success, and on the press launch they announced they'd already taken 11,000 orders for the new model – before it had even reached dealers showrooms.
Most of the changes are relatively minor because they've worked to the adage that if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
My thoughts exactly.
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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