Updated Nissan Qashqai Coming Soon: Specs, price and release info

Nissan started a massive trend with its original Qashqai, taking the proportions of a family hatchback and elevating the driving position. After nearly two decades the Qashqai is in its third generation and the time has come for a midlife facelift. While many manufactures often give their cars a small nip and tuck every few years, Nissan has decided to give the Qashqai a rather more significant makeover with a new look and some significant tech upgrades. While the Qashqai is one of the UK’s most popular new cars, it faces tough competition from the Ford Puma and Kia Sportage, so Nissan will be hoping that this update will help the Qashqai stand its ground.
• As Nissan’s mid-size SUV, the Qashqai sits between the smaller Juke and larger X-Trail • This update adds a fresh face, more driving assistance features and Google integration • Expected summer 2024 • No price lists confirmed but the Qashqai will likely have a starting price around £30,000

The front of the Qashqai gets a full overhaul, with sharper headlights providing increased visibility. The grille is wider and, as a reminder of Nissan’s Japanese roots, has comma-shaped details inspired by the scales of ancient Japanese armour. There are new wheel options and three new paint colours: Pearl White, Pearl Black and Deep Ocean, a greeny blue. There's also an N-Design trim level with its own unique wheel design and more body-coloured panels. Moving to the back of the car, the updated Qashqai remains much like its predecessor with only a subtle change to the tail light clusters and different finishes on the bumper and side panel depending on trim level.

Inside, Nissan has used a mixture of new lighting and materials to make the Qashqai look more premium; the top two trim grades get a suede-effect on the dashboard and door trim. There’s a new texture to the centre console surround and some new seat materials and patterns. Some grades also gain ambient lighting.
However, the new tech sounds like it will make the most day-to-day difference to Qashqai owners by adding features to make motoring easier. Nissan will be upgrading the monitors used for manoeuvring, including the four cameras used to create its signature 360-degree birds-eye view, which should appear clearer even in low light conditions. There will now be a 3D function allowing drivers to view the car from eight angles when checking for hazards and the Qashqai should alert you to moving objects nearby. Then there’s the “invisible hood view”, like the tech you’ll find in much more expensive off-roaders like the Land Rover Defender. This builds up an image of where the front wheels are so you can virtually see through the bonnet. It should be very handy to help you avoid pesky kerbs. Additionally, you’ll be able to save locations of awkward parking spaces or blind corners, triggering the cameras and parking aids automatically via GPS. The driver assistance systems have been given a revamp, making them more cautious and quicker to intervene. We often find these systems to be overly intrusive, so are pleased to see Nissan has included a Driver Assist Custom mode accessible via a shortcut menu. This will allow you to choose which systems you’d like to use and turn off the others, hopefully making them less annoying. The updated Qashqai will have Google built in, just like cars from Renault and Volvo. It’s a feature often loved by Android users, while for those more familiar with Apple products it requires an initial bit of getting used to. However, we particularly enjoyed the handsfree Google assistant when we lived with a Renault Austral, so would hope Nissan’s integration will be just as pleasing. By signing up to a data plan subscription, there will be access to Amazon’s Alexa system too.

Nissan will still offer the Qashqai as a mild hybrid or e-Power hybrid. The e-Power option is an unusual form of hybrid using a petrol engine purely as a generator to drive an electric motor. It’s a similar idea to Mazda’s MX-30 R-EV, but with the Qashqai you never plug it in. Though it may be a bit difficult to get your head around, Nissan says it has been popular with customers so far and will be hoping the appeal continues.

No word just yet on pricing, but we expect the updated Qashqai to start at around £30,000 and to become available later in the year.

This year we are expecting news of an all-electric Micra based on its French cousin, the Renault 5. We are also hoping to find out about the future of the Leaf after production of the current model ended recently.

The Qashqai is in a constant battle with Ford’s Puma and Kia’s Sportage to be the most popular new car on the road so Nissan will be pinning its hopes for success on this update.