Unveiled as a concept at the 2004 Geneva Motor Show and put into production for February 2007, the first Qashqai sold more than 1.24 million units in Europe over a seven-year run built entirely at Nissan’s Sunderland plant.[1] A longer, seven-seat Qashqai+2 arrived in 2008, extending the wheelbase by 135 mm and the body by 211 mm rather than just adding a third row to the existing shell.
The mid-life switch from a 2.0-litre to a 1.6-litre diesel in 2010 is recorded here as two separate trims: the smaller engine made less peak power (96 kW against 110 kW) for the same 320 N-m of torque, delivered lower in the rev range, and Nissan said at the time it was quicker in-gear despite the lower headline figure. This is a case where the smaller number does not mean the slower car.