Wind the clock back to late 2006, when the
Qashqai was first unveiled, and you’d never guess at its future success.
Nissan’s (boring) backbone had been the Tiida, Almera and Primera, and although
it was abandoning traditional market segments and hunting for new ones with
SUVs such as the X-Trail, the Qashqai was really no more than a high-riding
Almera. Yet the ruse worked: the Qashqai wasn’t as lofty as traditional
off-roaders, but nor was it as squat as the hatchbacks everyone else had; the
driving position was suitably raised to look down on the Joneses; and chunky
plastic body cladding gave the impression of off-road ability even though most
were front-wheel drive and would struggle traversing a moist lawn. The
car-buying public loved it. Nissan originally hoped to sell 100,000 Qashqais
each year, but over 2m have been sold in the past seven years. No pressure on
Qashqai Mk2, then…
The
Nissan Qashqai gets a new look and more functionality in an effort to attract a
new generation of buyers
With Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn having
declared the original ‘the most important Nissan of the decade’ and conscious
of the mantra ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t you dare try and fix it’ the second-generation
Qashqai is evolutionary. It’s still named after a nomadic Iranian tribe, again
it’s been designed and engineered in the UK, and once production has ramped up
in Sunderland a new Qashqai will be built every 62 seconds. There have been
changes though, and you’ll have noticed the first one - the original Qashqai
wasn’t much to look at, but this second-generation model is sleeker and more
stylish. The nose is more angular and steeply raked, the doors are contoured
rather than slab-sided, the plastic cladding is better integrated into the
overall design, and there’s more chrome detailing. The rear is less successful
(the lights could have been pinched from a Focus sedan) but don’t bother
holding out for a Qashqai+2 with its elongated rear because there won’t be one.
Higher-quality
interior consigns the utility-biased first version’s cabin to the Nissan
archive
Customer research showed the majority of
Mk1 Qashqai customers who bought the +2 did so for the bigger boot, rather than
the third row of seats. So Qashqai Mk2 has a bigger boot, and if you want a
third row expect your Nissan dealer to try and up-sell you to the new X-Trail.
So let’s ferret around first. Starting from the back, the tailgate now opens
150mm higher, so you’re less likely to bash your head on it. The boot itself is
20 litres larger too, there’s a false floor under which you can store the
parcel shelf, and the two floor panels can be used to halve the space to stop
something smaller than the weekly shop rolling around, or reversed to provide a
wipeable, waterproof lining.
Multitude
of cameras display bird’s-eye view of what you’ve just hit
Not that the cheap boot carpet is worth
preserving. The rear seats fold flatter than before, and when they’re not
folded flat there’s more head-, shoulder- and legroom on offer for passengers.
The rear seats don’t slide or recline though, there’s still not enough
under-thigh support for adults, and if you’re tall the trim-specific panoramic
sunroof will be gently brushing your bonce. The seat pockets are small too, but
whereas I had a book and a Gameboy to stuff in there as a child, for the kids
of today an iPad will slide in easily.
