Nissan Qashqai 2.0 dCi (2007) CAR review

What’s this? A hatchback? An off-roader? A mini-MPV?

None of the above. It’s a Nissan Qashqai, it replaces the Almera hatchback (if you can remember what that was) and, according to its maker, ‘it completely redefines driving in the modern, urban world’. In fact, it doesn’t, as you can probably guess, but it is the result of some bold thinking by Nissan. With traditional hatchbacks and saloons in decline and niche cars like SUVs and MPVs on the rise, it has decided to abandon the mainstream, Focus-sized hatch market altogether and offer the Qashqai instead.

But what is it, exactly?

It’s meant to offer all of the stuff people like about SUVs in a hatch-sized package, with none of the compromises you don’t need to make if you never go off-road. So it’s between 10cm and 15cm longer and taller than most hatches, but lower and shorter than a small SUV by similar amounts. You get enough ground clearance to mount kerbs, but not Everest. You also get high-profile tyres so you can sideswipe the same kerbs without tears. You get the option of four-wheel-drive for wet, grassy car parks and occasional snowy roads. But you don’t get the manoeuvrability, efficiency and social acceptability issues of an unnecessarily large and bluff vehicle. Or that’s the idea, anyway…