Nissan to Design, Engineer and Build Next

The second generation of Nissan’s big-selling in Europe Qashqai crossover will be designed, engineered and built in Britain, the Japanese automaker’s CEO Carols Ghosn announced today during a meeting with UK Prime Minister David Cameron. Nissan said it will spend £192 million (US$315 million or €215 million) for the new Qashqai, safeguarding 6,000 jobs, both direct and indirect through the UK supply chain.

2010 Nissan Qashqai

Nissan has given its European market compact crossover, the Qashqai, a mid-life makeover for 2010 to prolong its appeal to consumers. So what's new about the Qashqai? Well, first of all, most of the cosmetic changes concern the front end as hood, bumper, fenders, grille and headlights have all been revised giving the Qashai a much more aggressive look.

There are also two new exterior colors, revised tail lights with LED technology, and newly designed 17-inch alloy wheels.

These styling changes together with a series of other improvements are said to have reduced the Qashqai's drag coefficient from 0.34 to 0.33.



Inside, Nissan is promising new trims, better quality materials, reduced noise, vibration, and harshness levels, plus a revised instrument panel cluster with a new LCD screen.

Completing the upgrades is a retuned suspension that's said to further improve handling. The engine lineup remains unchanged.

Also new for the 2010 model year, is the introduction of an eco-friendly version called 'ECO Qashqai' that is powered by Nissan's (okay, Renault's) 1.5-liter turbo diesel engine.

Nissan said that this model benefits from a series of weight saving measures, aero tweaks, low rolling-resistance tires and longer gear ratios, to achieve 129 g/km CO2.

Love it or Loathe it: Nissan Qazana Small Crossover Study

Supposedly previewing Nissan's new small crossover model that's expected in 2010, the Qazana made its first ever appearance at the Geneva Motor Show. It goes without saying the production model that will be built at the firm's Sunderland plant in the UK, will feature a much less dramatic design that the concept study. That said, don't expect to see the Qazana's suicide rear-doors or 20-inch alloys making it into production.

"The Qazana concept is an intelligent, all-wheel drive crossover which is masculine, agile, lean, and designed for the tough city streets," said Atsushi Maeda, Studio Chief Designer, Nissan Design Europe. "Our team at Nissan Design Europe (NDE) in London realized this image with the motif of a modern day beach buggy and four-seat motor-bike," Atsushi added.

Mixing SUV and a few sports car styling cues like the low roofline, the design proposal for a "baby" Qashqai is quite compact measuring 4,060mm in length (110mm longer than a Ford Fiesta but 277mm shorter than a Focus), 1,570mm in height, 1,780 in width and has a wheelbase of 2530mm.

Inside, Nissan claims that the shape of the centre console and armrest have been inspired by the fuel tank and seat of a sports motocycle. "I enjoy the sensation of being at one with my bike and wanted to capture that feeling in Qazana," said Paul Ray, senior interior designer at NDE. ""The way the structure appears through the fabric of the interior also reflects motorcycle design and construction."

The Japanese automaker did not reveal any information on the concept's mechanics other than it is equipped with the firm's next generation fully electronic ALL MODE four-wheel drive with torque vectoring system.