NISSAN QASHQAI HATCHBACK 2.0 Visia 5dr CVT [2010]

* for illustration purposes only

Nissan has released first details and pictures of its revised Qashqai and Qashqai 2, which make their way to the UK in 2010.

The popular crossover-MPVs get revised styling and a £900 price increase over the current model.

The five-seater Qashqai starts from £15,395 for the 1.6-litre petrol Visia model. And the entry-level Qashqai 2 costs £16,695, giving buyers seven seats.

A new Pure Drive variant has also been added to the range, which includes a fuel-efficient 1.5-litre diesel engine emitting 129/gkm of CO2 and low rolling resistance tyres.

This will set buyers back £16,795 and is only available in five-seat guise.

Five variants are offered - Visia, Pure Drive, Acenta, N-tec and Tekna. Most are two-wheel drive with manual transmission. Four-wheel drive models start at £22,645 for the 2-litre petrol Qashqai with an automatic gearbox.

Changes at the rear include half-transparent rear LED lights and a minor redesign to improve aerodynamics.

Two new five-spoke alloy wheel designs have been introduced to the range, along with two new colour schemes - "magnetic red" and "mineral grey."

The Qashqai's suspension has been refined, and Nissan claims a new "multi-layer insulation material" around the front bulkhead will lessen wind noise.

Inside, the dashboard dials have been tweaked with a redesigned drive computer placed between the two. This provides the driver with average fuel consumption, mileage, time, cruise control and speed limiter settings.

Ambient lighting has been added around the front footwells, and a new cubby hole at the central cluster for mobile phones and iPods is new.

Optional extras have also been revised. ESP is now fitted as standard, Acenta models get a speed limiter and top-of-the-range Tekna gains a Bose speaker system.

The Nissan Qashqai and Qashqai 2 will
hit showrooms in March 2010.