Europe’s Best-Selling Nissan Qashqai Kicks Off Production

The slightly new and moderately improved Nissan Qashqai – or Nissan Rogue Sport here in the U.S. – made its debut at the Geneva Motor Show this past March. This week, the crossover has kicked off production at Nissan's Sunderland facility in the U.K.

Claiming the title of Europe's best-selling crossover, the updated Qashqai now offers a range of premium amenities, with a focus on four major areas: a contemporary exterior design, higher levels of interior quality, improved driving performance, and the addition of Nissan's Intelligent Mobility technologies.

The front fascia adopts Nissan's sharp-looking V-motion grille, while the headlights now incorporate new LED daytime running lights, and the headlamps now benefit from an optional adaptive projector technology. The cockpit also received a healthy upgrade, with revisions like higher-quality materials and an improved center console.

The latter of the listed features will include ProPilot, Nissan's semi-autonomous driving system, and will be available beginning next spring. It will also be available on the new Nissan Leaf. The system controls steering, acceleration, and braking in a single lane on highways during heavy traffic congestion, as well as high-speed cruising.

Part of the Qashqai's upgrade included a £53 million ($68 million) investment into Nissan's Sunderland facility, which included things like added production capacity and the ability to build the crossover on both lines. Since its launch, Nissan has produced more than 2.8 million Qashqai's at the facility.

Alongside the best-selling Qashqai crossover, Nissan also produces the Leaf, Juke crossover, and Infiniti Q30 and QX30 SUVs. Total production last year at the facility was 507,436 vehicles, with a majority of that figure coming from the Qashqai.