No Nissan Qashqai Nismo on the cards
There won’t be a performance-inspired Nissan Qashqai Nismo or Nissan Xtrail in either of the car’s immediate futures because according to a source at the Goodwood FOS, neither model needs assistance in sales volumes. That means Nissan will not compete in the burgeoning market where the BMW X3M and the Mini Countryman JCW currently do battle.
Nismo treatment will be reserved for the Nissan Juke, 370Z and GT-R but marketing boss of Nismo, Gareth Dunsmore hinted that the upcoming Nissan Sway could join that trio. Currently the Nissan Juke Nismo RS employs a turbo 1.6-litre engine quoted at 160kW but at Goodwood, Nissan teased an ultimate Juke-R model with an estimated 450kW coming from its 2.0-litre turbo charged engine. As part of their marketing, Nissan set a new record with the Juke up the Goodwood hill for the fastest mile travelled on two wheels.
The source said that aside from its niche cars the Nismo division was spending most of its resources on the GT Academy and Nismo accessories. “Accessories are a really big part of our business going forward. It’s a good area for Nismo to explore,” says Gareth Dunsmore. “We’ve only been doing Nismo for three years in Europe, so we have to build credibility up. We need to keep focused on GT Academy, Juke, Z and GT-R and build out from a fanbase and accessory perspective,” he added.
