Start with what the Nissan Qashqai is: a 5-door crossover SUV with Petrol engine, built from 2006, in the decade of stability control, dual-clutch gearboxes and the first serious hybrids. What it meant takes a little longer. The shape is credited to Darryl Scriven, Masaki Aikawa and Patrick Reimer (pre-facelift).
Where it came from
The Nissan Qashqai () is a compact SUV (C-segment) designed and produced by the Japanese car manufacturer Nissan since 2006. The first generation of the vehicle was sold as the Nissan Dualis (Japanese: 日産・デュアリス, Hepburn: Nissan Dyuarisu) in Japan and Australia, and Qashqai in the rest of the world. The second generation, launched in late-2013 for the 2014 model year, was not sold in Japan and was badged as the Qashqai in all countries it was sold, except in the United States, where it was rebadged as the Nissan Rogue Sport.
Since the third and latest generation model launched in 2021, the Qashqai is available with hybrid powertrains. Nissan named the vehicle after the Qashqai people, originally a nomadic people who live in mountainous Central and Southwestern Iran. As of 2023, for the European and Australian market the Qashqai is positioned between the Juke and the X-Trail in Nissan's crossover SUV lineup with the latter sharing platform with the Qashqai.
Under the skin
The engine is Petrol engine; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. Drive goes through a 5/6-speed Manual transmission / manual / 6-speed Automatic transmission / automatic / Continuously variable transmission / CVT. The wheelbase is 2630 mm / 2760 mm (Qashqai+2). These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
In the Nissan line-up the Nissan Qashqai has a clear place: it handed the line to the Nissan Juke (Dualis, Japan) / Nissan X-Trail (Qashqai+2); the factory was Sunderland (Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Audi R8, the Kia Sportage, the Bugatti Veyron. Nearby in the Nissan catalogue sit the Nissan N6 and the Nissan N7.