CarShowroom.com.au has already driven the all-new Nissan Qashqai, but we’re sworn to secrecy until Friday morning on our driving impressions.
But here’s the details on Nissan’s all-new compact SUV which replaces the popular Dualis model. Well when we say ‘replaces’…
In fact the car we know as the Dualis has always been called the Qashqai in Europe. Regardless of the name, this model has been a massive success for Nissan, racking-up global sales of more than 2.0-million since its debut in 2007 with in excess of 50,000 of those here in Australia.
Again the Qashqai was designed by Nissan Design Europe in London and production of Australian models takes place at Nissan award-winning plant at Sunderland in England’s North.
And there are significant changes for the all-new model. For starters it’s exclusively a five-seater and front-wheel-drive (in the previous generation less than 5.0 per-cent of sales were all-wheel-drive).
Styling too is all-new with the Qashqai adopting a family look along the lines of the X-TRAIL and Pathfinder (with the Juke the rebel of the family!).
Nissan has launched the all-new Qashqai in its familiar model range – ST and Ti models for petrol-powered models and similarly-specified TS and TL variants for the turbo-diesel models.
The petrol engine is Nissan’s MR20 2.0-litre with 106kW/200Nm on tap while the R9M 1.6-litre provides turbo-diesel power offering 96kW/320Nm. Nissan exclusively equips the turbo-diesel Qashqai with the latest-generation Xtronic CVT automatic while petrol models have the choice of CVT or six-speed manual.
Nissan Qashqai uses the CMF modular chassis and sees some impressive new technologies such as Active Ride Control, Intelligent Park Assist, Around-View camera, Lane Departure Warning and Moving Object Detection.
A reversing camera is standard in all models.
And good news for families with the all-new Nissan Qashqai delivering extra interior space and more cargo capacity than its predecessor (the latter up by 25-litres to 430-litres).
For full details and our on-road impressions, check back for our ‘First Drive’ story on Friday morning.
Prices are:
Petrol
ST 2.0l 6-manual $25,850
ST 2.0l X-tronic $28,490
Ti 2.0l 6-manual $32,490
Ti 2.0l Xtronic $34,990
Diesel
TS 1.6l Xtronic $33,200
TL 1.6l Xtronic $37,990
