Since the Qashqai launched in 2007 it has been far more successful than Nissan expected, doing particularly well in fleet.
The revised Qashqai and Qashqai +2 see only subtle changes. Exterior-wise, there’s a new front end, while two new five-spoke alloy wheel designs have been introduced along with two new colour schemes. The suspension has been refined, too, and Nissan claims a new insulation material around the front bulkhead will lessen wind noise.
The interior is much simpler than its predecessor – and far better for it. The dashboard dials have been tweaked with a redesigned drive computer placed between the two. Ambient lighting has been added around the front footwells, and a cubby hole at the central cluster for mobile phones and iPods is new.
Prices start from £16,695, £900 more than the outgoing model, but ESP is now fitted as standard. Acenta models also get a speed limiter while top-of-the-range Tekna gains a Bose speaker system. The most popular fleet version should remain the 2.0-litre dCi Tekna, with 167g/km CO2, 25% BIK and a 55.3p cost per mile.
A new Pure Drive variant, with low rolling-resistance tyres and which emits only 129g/km CO2 from a 1.5-litre diesel engine, is expected to take a large share of the Qashqai’s fleet sales due to its business-friendly credentials: 18% BIK and only 39.4 pence per mile.
A test drive of the facelifted car revealed that wind noise at the A-pillars was still notable, the auto gearbox we also sampled was far from refined and the 2.0-litre diesel seemed to struggle more than expected up hill. Still, the revised Qashqai is a likeable crossover MPV that will appeal to many buyers wanting good looks and practicality.
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