UK Motorists Love It And We Love The Nissan Qashqai Too!
In the early ‘70 British cars were trend setters. Marques like Jag and Bently, Rover and Austin were world beaters, and it was difficult to see how the nascent Japanese auto industry could get a foothold in that market. And yet it did.
In the past half century, while Britain lost its car industry to foreign ownership, Japanese cars have gone from cheap and reliable to market leaders. These cars were readily accepted by the motoring mad British driving public, and now leading this pack is the third-generation Nissan Qashqai.
Nissan has a massive presence in Britain, through its key Sunderland plant, one of the manufacturing pillars that underpin Nissan’s presence in the international motoring market.
And now the Qashqai is the best selling car in the UK.
The Nissan Qashqai is well-known in South Africa and around the world. It was, a decade or more ago, the car that launched the wildly popular crossover segment. The crossover combines the best of a normal car or station wagon with the bits that make SUVs so popular. So the Qashqai is spacious and well appointed, seating 5 comfortably, with a huge boot and nice ground clearance. This superb balance gives you a family car, an urban run-around for a working person, and the ability to leave it all behind and go off-road.
The Qashqai has taken this appealing combination through three generations to what is now its most popular iteration yet.The internal combustion-only powered Qashqai in the UK is very similar to the Qashqai you can buy in SA, so the same features that make it so popular there can be enjoyed here too.
In the base trim we get 6 airbags, an 8-inch audio display, Android/Apple infotainment, reverse camera, 17” alloy wheels, cruise control, LED headlamps and a wireless charger. One step up gives you ProPilot level one autonomous display, 18” wheels and lane-keep assist among others.
In the UK, though, you can get a Qashqai with e-Power. A frugal petrol engine powers a battery which drives the front wheels, giving you the range and flexibility of petrol with the economy, responsiveness and massive torque of an EV.
We believe the Qashqai will soon get an e-Power variant in South Africa, but we don’t know when. In the meantime, what are you waiting for? Take a Qashqai for a test drive and see for yourself why the whole world is still in love with this car after all these years.
