courtesy : autoworld.files.wordpress.com
Undeterred by crashing European sales numbers, Nissan is forging ahead and adds – are we reading this right? – “a third shift at its British production line for sport utility vehicles, raising output 30 percent to nearly 24,000 units a month,” says The Nikkei [sub].
The Qashqai crossover SUV is made at Nissan’s Sunderland plant. You read right, they indeed call the thing Qashqai. In Japan and Australia, it is known as an easier pronounceable Dualis. We are told, the Qashqai is an itinerant tribe in Southwestern Iran (we are not making this up.) Nissan apparently wants to outdo the Touareg, which is named after an itinerant tribe in Africa. Anyway, Qashqai sounds like “cash cow,” and that’s what it is.
While the European market is crashing, Nissan’s sales in Europe surged 41.8 percent in April. The Qashqai is especially high in demand. Maybe by people who get ready to leave the continent and to join itinerant tribes.
Nissan stumbles into Scion territory with this teaser image of its new compact crossover, the Juke, to be built in Britain starting this year. The Juke is supposed to bridge the gap between the Qashqai (Rogue) soft-roader and the Note compact MPV. Because someone, somewhere wants a compact crossover with less capability than a Rogue and less rear visibility than a Note. The hunt for that confused consumer is now officially on.
