Monthly Motor - September 2014
All Your Motoring Needs from Kenyan Publishers Media 7 Group
All Your Motoring Needs from Kenyan Publishers Media 7 Group
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YOUR CROSSOVER<br />
The All-New Nissan Qashqai<br />
Ready For Africa<br />
By Jay Suave<br />
Nissan’s Qashqai has become a formidable force in the compact<br />
crossover the world over in the last seven years. More than two<br />
million of them having found homes around the world, with<br />
Africa not being left behind. In fact, you can probably pronounce<br />
its name by now... ok it is ‘Kash-Kai’ in case you cannot!<br />
With the march of time,<br />
Qashqai’s rivals have<br />
sharpened their respective<br />
games over the<br />
last few years. It is now<br />
Nissan’s turn to fight back with the all-new<br />
Qashqai, launched in Africa this July, with a<br />
fresh design and new technologies. Kenyan<br />
delivery is yet to be confirmed, because as of<br />
time of press, Crown <strong>Motor</strong>s - a newly formed<br />
outfit with South African partners confirmed it<br />
will open the Kenyan franchise dealership to be<br />
led by a country chairman/MD.<br />
Nissan redesigned this crossover from the<br />
ground up and the finished product is longer,<br />
wider, lower and lighter than before. We quite<br />
like the new exterior design - though it doesn’t<br />
stray too far from the original’s blueprint, it<br />
looks decidedly more modern and it’s certainly<br />
easy on the eye.<br />
BIGGER<br />
Nissan has aimed somewhat higher when<br />
it comes to interior quality, with a fuss-free<br />
layout and premium quality materials. New to<br />
the model is a Drive-Assist Display with highdefinition<br />
graphics and an adaptable ambient<br />
lighting system to create that perfect mood at<br />
night.<br />
This Qashqai features brand new seats,<br />
designed using advanced medical scanning, and<br />
as before there’s space for five - its new sibling<br />
the X-Trail will offer room for seven. Leg, head<br />
and shoulder room have been improved, while<br />
the boot capacity grows by 20 litres to 430 litres.<br />
On the technology front, Nissan is offering<br />
its Around View Monitor as an option on<br />
all but the base model. This gizmo uses four<br />
cameras to effectively create a ‘helicopter view’<br />
of the vehicle displayed through a seven-inch<br />
LCD display - which also comes as part of the<br />
optional Techno Pack.<br />
36 MOTOR SEPTEMBER <strong>2014</strong>
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