4x4 Buyers' Guide - the no-nonsense guide to SUVs and 4x4s

Quashqai +2 review

1. Introduction

As everyone knows, 4x4s are getting smaller. Off-roaders are giving way to SUVs, SUVs are giving way to crossovers, and the whole lot is getting more car-like all the time.
The Nissan Qashqai is a case in point. It’s a 4x4 of sorts, but more importantly it’s a vehicle that looks like an off-roader but is in essence more of a hatchback. It is, in other words, the definition of a crossover – and it sells like crazy.
Except the Qashqai is not getting smaller. In fact, it’s bigger. Rumours of a seven-seat version had been knocking about almost from the moment the five-seat original arrived, and sales finally started in September 2008.

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