All-new Nissan Qashqai crowned Car Of The Year by What Car?
- All-new Qashqai wins Car of the Year and Small SUV category
- Judges praise new Qashqai's design, refinement and value for money
- High equipment levels and low emissions also highlighted by judges
- New X-Trail scoops Reader Award
The all-new Qashqai, the car that redefines the crossover sector, has been honoured with one of the motoring industry's highest accolades - the What Car? Car of the Year Award for 2014.
Like its multi-award-winning predecessor, the all-new Qashqai has been designed, engineered and will be built in the UK. It saw off strong competition to win both the Small SUV (£16,000 - £22,000) category, and the overall 2014 What Car? Car of the Year title.
The What Car? judging panel selected the Qashqai 1.5 dCi Acenta 2WD as its favourite model in the new range, praising its refinement, agile driving experience and low running costs. The panel also highlighted the new Qashqai's comfort, refinement and space, along with its clean engine range and sub-100g/km CO2 emissions.
What Car? Editor-in-Chief, Chas Hallett added: "The new Qashqai brings excellence and polish to a class of cars that was already brimming with talent and tempting buys. It has an interior worthy of its stylish looks, and it makes a fine family car. It's fantastic value for money and a very worthy Car of the Year.'
Jim Wright, Nissan Motor GB Managing Director, commented: "We're thrilled that What Car? has named the new Qashqai as its 2014 Car of the Year. A huge amount of effort has gone into the design and engineering of the new car, and we're all extremely excited about creating the template for the second-generation crossover.
"As the What Car judges discovered for themselves, the new Qashqai is an unbeatable package with high equipment levels, great refinement and comfort and incredible attention to detail."
The new Qashqai goes on sale on at the end of January with prices starting from £17,595. Building on the strengths of the ground-breaking original, the new model features a sector-best suite of technologies that bring maximum convenience, comfort and driver engagement to the crossover segment.
In a further cause for celebration, the new Nissan X-Trail scooped the What Car? Reader Award. It was voted the most-anticipated new car of 2014 by visitors to http://www.whatcar.com/ ahead of models such as the Jaguar F-Type Coupe and Porsche Macan. The new X-Trail goes on sale in the UK in July 2014.
This success comes as Nissan's Sunderland Plant celebrates its latest industry benchmark after making more than one million cars in two years.
The 2013 annual volume of 501,756 vehicles follows the 510,572 production in 2012 and means that, in total, 7,463,187 Nissan vehicles have been manufactured in Sunderland since 1986.
More than 286,000 of the cars built in Sunderland in 2013 were Qashqais, now in its eighth year of production and still the best-selling crossover in Europe. Total Qashqai production in the UK now stands at 1,752,232.
For further details on the new Qashqai, please visit www.nissan-live.com/newqashqai/
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Notes to editors
About Nissan in the UK
- Nissan Sunderland Plant produces the Nissan Qashqai, Note and Juke and the 100% electric Nissan LEAF
- Production of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles began in 2012
- Total plant volume since 1986 stands at more than seven million units with 80 per cent of production exported to 97 markets worldwide
- Total investment made and announced since then is over £3.5 billion
- 510,572 units were produced at Sunderland plant in 2012, a plant record
- Sunderland Plant currently employs more than 6,100 people
- Nissan's European Design Centre is located in Paddington, London and employs around 65 people
- Nissan's European Technical Centre is based in Cranfield, Bedfordshire and employs around 1,000 people.
About Nissan in Europe
Nissan has one of the most comprehensive European presences of any overseas manufacturer, employing more than 14,500 staff across locally-based design, research & development, manufacturing, logistics and sales & marketing operations. Last year Nissan plants in the UK, Spain and Russia produced more than 695,000 vehicles including mini-MPVs, award-winning crossovers, SUVs and commercial vehicles. Nissan now offers 24 diverse and innovative products for sale in Europe today, and is positioned to become the number one Asian brand in Europe.
Today marks the most significant milestone in the crossoversegment for seven years.
At the heart of the new Qashqai lies accessible technology. A suite of innovations which, whencombined, form a unique package of driver aids which not only significantly enhance safety andconvenience, but deliver exceptional value to Nissan drivers.
Combining conventional passenger car efficiency with the sense of adventure of an SUV has alwaysbeen a key part of the appeal of crossovers.
Underneath the new Qashqai’s sleek body is a new modular platform that has been tailoredspecifically for the second-generation crossover.
The success of the original Qashqai has meant success for the European motor industry
The all-new Nissan Qashqai secured a five-star rating by independent safety organisation EuroNCAP.
Redesigned from the ground up, the new generation Nissan Qashqai is now rolling off the production line at the company's record-breaking Sunderland plant.
In 2007, Nissan launched a model that became the crossover pioneer, found more than 2.0 million customers and was soon followed by scores of imitators. That model has now been reinvented - the new Nissan Qashqai has arrived.