Qashqai sales a return to form

NISSAN has released its third-generation Qashqai SUV in Australia this month, the roomier, all-new model set to reassert its position within the Small SUV segment it once sat proudly atop.

With a projected return to annual sales of around 7000 units – dependent on supply – Nissan Australia managing director Adam Paterson told GoAuto News the Qashqai will quickly find its feet with Small SUV buyers wanting a quality product equipped with the latest driveline, safety and in-vehicle technologies.

“The segment continues to grow, and the opportunity as far as people shopping the segment is different than it was previously,” he explained.

“There are far more customers looking for a Small segment SUV today than there were five, six or seven years ago when Qashqai was last renewed.”

Mr Paterson said the Small SUV segment was expected to continue to grow over the lifecycle of the newly launched Qashqai, projecting a share of between 15 and 16 per cent – or approximately 160,000 units annually – of the overall new car market by 2027.

“Although we’re in a very different market today, it is encouraging to see that the current Qashqai is performing so well elsewhere. In the UK, where the car has been on sale for just over a year now, it is the number one selling car in the market,” he said.

“Additionally, I think that many of the competitors are quite similar. They’re not all exactly the same, but there is a lot of ‘sameness’ to the segment, so that also gives us a lot of confidence that the new Qashqai is going to do great when it arrives in volumes and in dealerships.”

While Mr Paterson did not stipulate exact sales projections for the Qashqai, he said it was important the model returned to the top of charts, anticipating an improvement in supply as key to achieving sales success.

“We have the goal to get back to the sales numbers we’ve achieved previously. In Australia, our supply situation is improving drastically, but there is still more demand than there is supply.

“We’ve got visibility on volume coming from the factory and I would say it’s very encouraging, and much better than they have been over the last 18 months.

“That said, I do not believe the industry is completely out of the woods as far as supply constraints are concerned – and that’s a challenge that may prevent us from returning to the normality of 2016 or 2017.”

The increased competition within the Small SUV segment was another factor Mr Paterson said has been taken very seriously in specifying and pricing the Qashqai for the Australian market.

With new entrants offering high content levels at a competitive price – and retail pricing of the new generation Qashqai increasing significantly – he said it was important to focus on content and quality moving forward, while simultaneously delivering a vehicle that rides and handles well on Australian roads.

“My feeling is that a lot of what we have seen in terms of the sales results in this country over the past 12 to 18 months are probably somewhat indicative of supply availability, and I can tell you that is the case with us,” Mr Paterson told GoAuto News.

“Our sales over the last 12 months or so are more reflective of our availability than they are demand, and I guess that with price points being different now to what they were in the previous generation there is a concern that we may not be able to get back to that volume when there are less expensive competitors.

“To that I would say that we think the content and the value in this car, the drive and the way it handles on local roads, are definitely going to convince customers when they get behind the wheel.”

“After spending considerable time in the new Qashqai myself, I’m even more confident that we’ll get back to the type of volumes that we have enjoyed previously.

“I am extremely impressed with the ‘premiumness’ of this vehicle, and what Nissan’s engineers have achieved, and I think Nissan buyers will see that when they get to spend some time with the car.”

Year-to-date figures published by the FCAI show the 23-vehicle-strong Small SUV under $40K market segment is currently dominated by the MG ZS (19,410) ahead of the Mazda CX-30 (12,975), Mitsubishi ASX (11,976), Hyundai Kona (11,082) and Kia Seltos (8198).

2023 Nissan Qashqai pricing*:

*Pricing excludes on-road costs.