The Nissan Qashqai is a compact crossover produced by the Japanese car manufacturer Nissan since 2006. For the first generation, the Qashqai sold under the name Nissan Dualis in Japan and Australia. Now in its second generation that was released in 2014, the new model is only badged as Qashqai. The original Qashqai replaced the off-road capable body-on-frame Mistral/Terrano II as its Nissan's SUV offering and its P32L automobile platform will be also used by other forthcoming Nissan crossover SUVs.
Nissan named the Qashqai after the Qashqai (pronounced [qaʃqaːʔiː]) turkic people living in mountainous Southwestern Iran.
Nissan considered releasing the Chinese version as the CCUV (Compact Crossover Utility Vehicle). In Australia the Qashqai carries the name Dualis from the Japanese domestic market version because Nissan worried Qashqai could be pronounced "cash cow".[2] The press has often used that pun to describe the sales success of the model.
Production and sales
The Qashqai has been built at Nissan's Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK (NMUK) Sunderland, Tyne and Wear plant since December 2006.
It is the first model to be styled by Nissan Design Europe in London, with engineering development led by Nissan Technical Centre Europe (NTCE) in Cranfield, Bedfordshire. It was globally presented at the 2006 Paris Motor Show.
By the end of 2007, Nissan had sold approximately 100,000 Nissan Qashqais in Europe, including 17,554 in UK, 15,376 in Russia, and 10,746 in Italy. Since its facelift in 2010, the Qashqai has sold over 200,000 annual units in Europe (excluding Russia) every year, and the first generation Qashqai has sold more than 1.24 million units in Europe during its 7.5 year production run.
The Qashqai is exported to the Middle East and additional overseas markets.
In order to increase production capacity in Nissan's UK plant in Sunderland, some models of the 2014 Qashqai will be produced in Nissan's Russian plant in Saint Petersburg.
