To celebrate the sales success of the Nissan Qashqai and the Nissan X-Trail achieved in Europe, Nissan has introduced these “premium” concepts. They are personalised examples of the X-Trail and the Qashqai which come with unique colours and body parts.
Sitting between the Juke and the X-Trail, the Qashqai had never really been the pick amongst Nissan’s SUV lineup. But a fresh look for 2014-2015 should put it back on the buyers’ lists, as it receives a heap of cosmetic and technical changes throughout.
Say what you want about the Americans, but they are a serious bunch when it comes to safety. The U.S. government’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration — NHTSA — is the one that mandates airbags and tyre-pressure monitors in all new cars, subdued automakers into making their roof strength higher while inadvertently making outward visibility worse due to thicker pillars, and is set to force rear-view cameras on all new cars by 2014 thereby making car prices higher. And if that weren’t enough, there are not one, but two agencies in the U.S. that conduct crash tests, one being the NHTSA and other being the private Insurance Institute for Highway Safety —
Mitsubishi held its GCC launch event for their all-new 2011 ASX sub-compact crossover at the Dubai Autodrome racetrack a couple of weeks ago. To make things interesting, they even had a few 2010 Nissan Qashqai crossovers at hand for comparison. Incidentally, the Qashqai has been facelifted for 2011, though changes are minimal.
The 2010 Nissan Qashqai range has received a minor facelift, although mechanical changed are limited. The British market is the first to receive the new models, although the UAE should get them in the coming months.