Venezuela and Malaya are just two of the countries that prohibit parents from lumbering their kids with silly names, and, much as I detest government meddling, I wish Japan would do the same. That way we might have been spared the Qashqai label that somebody saw fit to attach to the newest offering from Nissan.
On the other hand, the Dualis moniker used for the same vehicle in Japan and Australia isn’t much better. An even worse option would have been to use the alternative spelling of “Ghashghai”, so I suppose I’d better shut up and live with what we have. Having got that out of the way, I can move on to the more pleasing news that, in a year when there have been so many stunning new cars launched in South Africa, the Nissan with the funny name is, in my book, a shoo-in as a Car of the Year finalist.
At the launch Nissan emphasised that the you-know-what is not an SUV, even though it will be available in four-wheel-drive in 2008. The PR blurb says that the wagon is a “marriage of the sleek shape of a passenger car with the look of an SUV to create something fresh and different in the new-car market”. Ho-hum — they all say things like that, all of the time, but the Nissan is an attractive family wagon that offers enough ground clearance to make it at least a respectable traverser of dirt roads, with high seating adding good all-round visibility and a feeling of security. In short, it feels pretty much like a station-wagon-cum-soft-roader, and its styling reminds me more of a baby Murano than anything else.
The Nissan offers, at the moment, a choice of three models and two petrol engines, with a diesel motor due to arrive alongside the 4×4 in the latter half of 2008. There’s a 1,6-litre Visia, a higher-specced 1,6-litre Acenta and a two-litre Acenta available now, and Nissan anticipates selling between 200 and 250 of the cars every month until the diesel and 4XD4 models arrive. I’d say it’s being a little conservative.
The smaller engines, both equipped with five-speed manual transmissions, are good for 81kW and 154Nm, while the bigger delivers 102kW and 198Nm to the front wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox. The Qashqai appears bigger than it is, so I expected the 1,6 to feel a little gutless, but that was far from the case — performance and handling are both very good.
The new Nissan is built in Sunderland in the United Kingdom, and the marketing people tell us it was designed in Europe for Europe. I believe them. They also say that, in Europe, 75% of sales so far have been to customers new to Nissan, won over by the vehicle’s desirability and quality. That’s also more than likely true, because the Qashqai really does look and feel like the kind of car you’d like to find in your garage in the morning.
Nissan says that its design team was briefed to give the vehicles all the little frills they needed, while ignoring features that would be used once or twice and then ignored. There’s hands-free Bluetooth phone connectivity to the car’s sound systems, with steering-wheel-mounted controls, loads of air bags in all models, ABS brakes with EBD and Brake Assist, lots of cupholders and stowage compartments (including a large drawer under the passenger front seat), air con/climate control that also cools the cubby hole, electric windows and, on the two-litre version, VDC (Vehicle Dynamic Control).
Pricing of the Nissan Qashqai is fiercely competitive, which, with its excellent-feeling build quality, is what makes it a real winner in my book. The 1,6-litre Visia will set you back R183Â 900, which is pretty good for what you’re getting, and makes it my pick of the bunch. The 1,6-litre Acenta comes in at R196Â 900, with the two-litre Acenta taking the tag up to R219Â 950. Anybody in the market for a hatchback/crossover/soft-roader in this price range would be foolish to ignore the car with the silly name.