Difference in the Detail

The Nissan X-Trail has a loyal following and customers indicated that they wanted more of the same. So the designers were faced with a dilemma – how to give them more of the same but make it all new.

Trail Blazer

The new X-Trail 4x4 is about to make its way onto the Irish market. While the styling is intentionally very similar to its predecessors, the car is almost completely new from bumper to bumper. Two grades and three engines will be available from launch.

It's a qash dash

JUST over six months on the market and already the Qashqai has proven to be one of the best selling cars ever produced by Nissan. Since its launch in March a massive 66,000 units have been sold across Europe — way beyond the company's sales predictions for the new model.

Enter Tiida on a tide of new Nissans

Nissan has started a new model blitz with a total of eleven new vehicles being launched worldwide during an eighteen month period. Some, such as the very successful Qashqai, open new niches in the market.

Top safety marks for new Qashqai

A car recently introduced here by Nissan has set a record for safety in the EuroNCAP crash results.

The Qashqai small-family-car-cum-SUV got a five-star rating for adult protection. That is the highest score for any vehicle.

It does everything it says on the tin

SUMMER has just arrived, but already I think we could have a Car of the Year for '07. The Nissan Qashqai is certainly worth all the hype, and all this despite my initial scepticism. Basically, I refused to believe-that such a beautiful, quality performing and cheap automobile would ever be available to Irish motorists.

It's urban warfare

Nissan's crossover takes to the streets NISSAN'S tongue-twisting Qashqai – you'll need to limber up your lips before saying it – is a car of two halves.

Qashqai turns heads not stomachs

Nissan's family vehicle is ecologically sound and attractive, writes Martin Brennan. NISSAN has never described the Qashqai as an SUV and we all know why. SUVs have got a bad name, in many cases unfairly, based just on looks. Would-be critics should examine the fuel consumption figures and emissions. Most of them are reasonably frugal and clean. Those that deserve the wrath heaped on their owners are few and far between, and in these cases the owners are well-heeled and thick skinned enough to take the financial and verbal hit that is coming their way.

Tiida leads Nissan's new triple team

Replacing one model with three, the Tiida is shaping up as a success, writes Martin Brennan.

The name Tiida says a lot about Nissan. It is derived from a Japanese dialect and means 'ever changing tide'. So out goes the Almera and in comes Tiida, a four/five- door conventional car.

Rising Tiida for Nissan's new inside out car

Riding high with an overwhelming demand for the Qashqai in Europe, Nissan have just replaced the seven-year-old Almera with the next new model in their range, the Tiida (pronounced tee-dah and meaning ever changing tides.

A motor that is young at heart

The car is a very solid C-sector car to rival the VW Golf, Toyota Corolla/Auris and Ford Focus. It is the third product to target the very wide Almera market after the superb SUV-looking Qashqai and the Note, a more youthful-looking adaptable hatchback.

The Tiida falls very strongly between these two and prides itself on being "comfortable, premium, indulgent, mature, manageable and safe"...

First it was the Qashqai now it's the Tiida

With the Qashqai established as the prime innovative part-successor, the attention this week turned to the more conservative Tiida (hatch and saloon) to spread the options across more conservative territory. Nissan say the new saloon will do much better than the hatch even though it is most straightforward.

Nissan's Tiida gives buyers another lifestyle option

The Tiida is a very comfortable car to drive, and has plenty of practicality about it. Apart from its mysterious appeal in saloon guise, however, its biggest selling point is likely to be the way it is packaged. Having extras such as air conditioning, four airbags and Bluetooth connection as standard gives it a significant edge over the competition when it comes to value for money and comparing like with like.