Although not the most familiar nameplate in North America, Qashqai is a household name in Europe. In this part of the world, this compact crossover was the best selling model in the class for several years in a row. The crown was finally taken last year when we saw three models with better sales numbers compared to Qashqai. In North America, this model is called Rogue Sport.
Of course, one of the reasons for such numbers lays in the fact that this is one of the oldest vehicles in the segment. The current generation has been around since 2013, which seems like a pretty long period for the most competitive segment of today’s automotive industry.
Therefore, it’s no surprise that the next-year model will come completely redesigned. We expect a lot of improvements from the new model. On the other side, Nissan’s management expects from it to take the throne once again. According to the latest reports, the premiere is scheduled for September, and it will take place in Paris.
Meanwhile, we are waiting for some spy shots. As there is no such thing at the moment, some renderings have appeared and they look pretty interesting. According to them, the next-generation Qashqai will keep the same V-Motion grille. However, the rest of the crossover will come with significant changes. We can easily see that there is a lot of inspiration from the recent IMQ, which is the direction where all future models will go. Of course, production models, including this one, won’t feature such eccentric look and we can clearly see that on these photos. Still, the overall approach is quite similar. Lighting groups have been divide into two sections. The lower one comes integrated with a large air intake, which provides a pretty attractive, sporty appearance.
When it comes to the interior design, the new model is still a complete mystery, but judging on spy shots of the bigger Rogue, we can see how the dashboards of new models will look like, as they should all come with a bigger, tablet-like touchscreen, less physical buttons etc.
When it comes to the powertrain, some sources suggest that diesel engines may not be in the offer anymore and that the focus will be on gasoline and hybrid models. The same sources suggest that the all-electric version is not in plans for this generation.
The new generation should hit the market by the end of the year.
Source: Motor1
