As we celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the UK’s bestselling, award winning,
Nissan Qashqai; we thought we would take a look at how the rest of the world views it. Throwing in a few fun facts along the way, here’s what makes this car the bestselling crossover in the market.
The Name
Fun Fact of the day - Did you know the crossover is named after the Qashqai tribe in the mountains of Southwestern Iran. However in Japan and Australia, this SUV is actually called the Nissan Dualis. This was chosen out of fear that Australians might call it the "cash cow". The press have often used that pun to describe the sales success of the model.*
Fun Fact #2 - Qashqai means "A horse with a white forehead" based on a translation by Vasily Bartold, the famous Russian historian. **
Easy to love, tough to say even harder to spell.
Quasaski? Quashkee? Let’s admit it, we’ve all had difficulties pronouncing the word Qashqai. To teach people just how to say the name, Nissan gave people in a coffee shop free coffee, and misspelt their names on purpose to make them look at their cups. The cups also had a brief pronunciation guide for the small SUV (Cash-kai), See what happened:
What the ‘Vice President of UK Manufacturing’ thought on its launch date?
"This is a very important day for our plant as this crossover will spearhead Nissan's drive for sustained, profitable growth in Europe. "As such, the Sunderland workforce has been given a great deal of responsibility. But they have earned the right to build this car through their continued hard work and excellent track record in terms of productivity and reliability.”
- Trevor Mann, Vice President of UK Manufacturing, 2006 ***
Other Names
North America - The crossover is not offered in North American markets. Instead, Nissan offers the Nissan Rogue. Although larger and appearing to be a completely different model it is based on the same basic platform as the award - winning Qashqai. In January 2017 Nissan announced the Qashqai will be sold in the North American market as the "Rogue Sport". Delivery is expected in the spring of 2017. The Japanese manufacturer revealed the North American version of the Qashqai to slot between the Juke & Rogue. Nissan USA had to make minor changes to the SUV including calling it "Rogue Sport", as they found that Americans would have trouble pronouncing the name. In Canada however it will keep its original name. Australia - For the first generation model, it sold under the name Nissan Dualis in Japan and Australia. Now in its second generation, which was released in 2014, the new model is only badged as Qashqai. Japan - After the Dualis was discontinued, the Juke is the only mini SUV from Nissan that is still produced and sold in Japan.(The Japanese are missing out on their own best seller?) **
The Evolution
So much has changed over the past decade, inside and outside.
The Multi-Award-Winning Crossover
Let’s not forget some of the some of the awards this SUV has won since it’s conception back in 2006::
- Named ‘Best Buy’ in the £15,000-£25,000 price point as well as Overall Car of the Year 2014.
- Honest John’s ‘Most Popular Crossover Award’ in 2015 and Euro NCAP’S ‘Safest small family car of 2014’ scoring more points for safety than any other car in its class.
- For the third year running, it has triumphed in the Best Small SUV at the prestigious What Car? Awards 2014-2016.
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Sources: *
Nation Wide Vehicle Contracts **
Wikipedia*** CarpagesSave Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save