As revealed last week, there's an all-new Nissan Qashqai crossover, and Nissan Ireland isn't wasting any time getting it to market. Following last night's launch event in the RDS in Dublin it has been revealed that the second generation version will start be priced from €24,495 and will be on sale here from January.
Exterior
The bold new design brings the Qashqai right up to date, but the sharper looks aren't too extreme as to potentially put off existing owners from trading up. Physically, the second-generation Qashqai is 20mm wider, 49mm longer and 15mm lower than its predecessor. All door apertures have been improved making ingress and egress easier than before.
The overall shape will still retain much of the Qashqai characteristics, but now incorporates bodywork that appears to be tauter, while the front-end apes the latest Nissan design themes similar to what can be seen on the latest Note. All models will feature LED daytime running lights as well as the option to add full LED lighting for the dipped and main beams.
Interior
Nissan has paid particular attention to making the interior of its flagship crossover more practical and comfortable than before. Improvements have been made to the headroom while legroom has also been extended. As the new Qashqai has grown in overall width, the benefits can be felt on the inside with better shoulder room while the seats themselves are claimed to offer greater levels of lumber and pelvis support.
Mechanicals
From launch the new Qashqai will be offered with three engine options: a 1.2-litre petrol unit and two diesel engines in 1.5- and 1.6-litre capacities. These are all designed to comply with the upcoming emission regulations and will have CO2 outputs as low as 99g/km. There will be a choice of both manual and automatic gearboxes while two- and four-wheel drive transmissions will be available as before.
Anything else?
A small number of new Nissan Qashqais will be touring dealers nationwide over the coming weeks and with order books now open, Nissan Ireland said that it expects the first deliveries to begin in late January 2014.