[Auto / Moto] Nissan Qashqai 2021 long-term review

[rlex]

 

I’m not usually one for naming cars, but I’ve decided to call our new Nissan Qashqai Ed. As in Sheeran. You see, I reckon the scruffy-haired singer-songwriter and Nissan’s family SUV have quite a lot in common. 

For starters, they’re both among Britain’s biggest exports, achieving phenomenal global po[CENSORED]rity. And they’ve both used similar tactics to achieve that success. Ed Sheeran basically nicked elements from a handful of genres and repackaged them into a musical form that seemed quite fresh but was actually determinedly mainstream and laser-focused to achieve mass-market musical domination. 

Similarly, the Qashqai took edgy elements from four-wheel-drive off-roaders (mostly the high-riding position and rugged styling cues) and appropriated them into an automotive form that seemed quite fresh but was actually determinedly mainstream and laser-focused to achieve mass-market motoring domination. It’s the same trick in two different guises: make a populist mainstream product feel like it’s still a bit radical. 

 

But now both Sheeran and the Qashqai face a challenge: how do you maintain a semblance of edgy cool once you’ve become so successful that you’re at the centre of the mainstream mass market and have a raft of identikit rivals trying to steal your sales with their own twist on your formula? 

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/nissan/long-term-reviews/nissan-qashqai-2021-long-term-review