The Nissan Qashqai, the World’s first Compact Crossover
A roaring success world over

Muscat: Designed to add a new dimension to the small crossover utility segment, the new 2008 Nissan Qashqai satisfies both the functional and emotional needs of customers. The Nissan Qashqai is a bouquet of aggressive performance-oriented styling, powerful engine and driver-focused cockpit that shifts the way drivers think about small crossovers.

Nissan’s compact crossover, the Qashqai had hit the landmark of 100,000 customer sales in Europe. The 100,000th customer sale was completed during the last week of November, which had started during March, last year.

It is the ultimate choice for those who want a more dynamic design that is distinctively different providing the comfort and elegance of a sophisticated sedan with the status of an SUV. The top half has a sleek dynamic form with a distinctive shoulder line which rises at the rear – a design cue similar to the Nissan Murano. The lower portion features large, pronounced wheel arches and a slightly elevated ground clearance.

“As the first production designed by the Nissan Design Centre in Europe, Nissan Qashqai has exceeded all expectations with a long list of pre-orders since its introduction. In trend setting markets like Oman, we expect the Nissan Qashqai to lead in its segment”, stated the senior spokesperson for Suhail Bahwan Automobiles, LLC.

Nissan had been awarded Best Car Advertising campaign at the Motor Trader Industry awards for its QASHQAI Urban proof advert. The Nissan Qashqai has also been awarded the European Design Award.

The Nissan Qashqai features eye-catching interior and exterior design, cockpit cabin concept, and Nissan’s dynamic safety engineering. Its exterior has an aggressive and sporty design that reflects an image of mobile modern sophistication.

Its sleek, elegant styling features dynamically arched forms and powerful rear shoulder lines. It is dressed with Xenon headlights, front fog lamps, and an available roof rail system with detachable cross bars (accessory).

Nissan Qashqai is built on Nissan’s new “C” platform, which provides high body stiffness with extensive use of high-strength steel utilized to reduce body weight. The vehicle features a 2631 mm wheelbase – among the longest in class, compared with leading small crossover competitors – providing ample rear seat proportions and one of the longest interior lengths. The body also features large front door openings for easy ingress and egress.

Nissan Qashqai interior, like its exterior, is designed to stand out in class with its sophisticated integration of a cockpit-like driver’s space and exceptional utility. The driver’s seat position offers excellent visibility, enhanced by an available seat lifter with up to two inches of seat height adjustability. Furthermore, the instrument panel layout and steering wheel are designed for easy readability and operation while also providing a sporty look and feel, with reddish-orange illumination and silver gauge surround rings. Available steering wheel-mounted controls include audio and cruise control.

A rear 60/40 split-fold bench seat and oversize glove box with partition that measures more than 14 litre in volume are standard. Also available is a highly versatile, dual-level center console storage with hidden functionality features.

The roomy cargo area in Nissan Qashqai has a number of available utility features, including a unique cargo organizer.

Also among the “cool” features include a Bluetooth hands-free phone system, a must have for the youth generations. Available in Nissan Qashqai are a powerful audio system with 6-speaker audio system with 6-disk CD changer, auto air-conditioning with dual zone temperature control.

Nissan Qashqai offers a choice of two and four-wheel drive with a 2.0-litre engine inline4 that produces 142hp at 5200 rpm, mated to an advanced CVT gearbox.

The carefully conceived interior is crammed with intelligent storage solutions for maximum functionality and flexibility. The Nissan known approach to useful and user friendly technology is also standardly applied to most of Nissan Qashqai grades. This includes Intelligent key, automatic headlights and wipersb and Xenon headlamps.

Nissan’s highly praised electronically controlled ALL MODE 4x4 system – as pioneered in X-TRAIL – is available. Despite having greater ground clearance than an ordinary hatchback, Nissan Qashqai’s four-wheel drive is there to provide greater traction for safer driving and extra control in all weathers.

Safety is a key feature of this new vehicle. A rigid bodyshell providing maximum passive safety is matched by a plethora of active safety features including the latest generation ESP which includes brake torque control and engine torque control. The braking system is similarly advanced and features hydraulic fade compensation (HFC) to provide the ultimate stopping power at all times.

Nissan Qashqai also offers a long list of safety features to select from, including front seat-mounted side-impact supplemental air bags and roof-mounted curtain supplemental air bags as for front and rear outboard occupants and rear sensors.

These features put Nissan Qashqai in a unique position in the market place, offering more space than a hatchback and more compact and manoeuvrability than SUVs.

“Nissan Qashqai offers a genuinely unique proposition that is expected to take sales from no fewer than four market sectors: as well as attacking the traditional C-segment, the compact MPV and compact SUV sectors, it will also encroach into the lower end of the D-segment”, added the senior spokesperson.