Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., today launched its first crossover vehicle in China – the Qashqai. Qashqai is manufactured at the Huadu plant of Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd. (DFL), Nissan's local partner in China.

“XIAOKE,” Qashqai’s Chinese name, means “nomad” and is consistent with the positioning of Qashqai as an “urban nomad.” Nissan expects to create a new vehicle category in China with Qashqai, a crossover that bridges the gap between the hatchback and growing SUV markets.

“Qashqai will be an iconic model for our product lineup in China, contribute significantly to our brand image and deliver something completely new to customers,” said Toshiaki Otani, Managing Director of Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Company.

Qashqai is powered by a 2.0L gasoline engine (MR20DE) which delivers a maximum output of 137PS. Qashqai will be available with either a CVT or 6-speed manual transmission and 2WD or 4WD.

In order to meet customer needs in China, some modifications from the European version of Qashqai were made for this market. Among them are an interior color change from black to beige, modification of the sunroof design and the addition of a chrome strip on the side body panel.

Qashqai is priced starting at RMB 167,800 (USD: 23,600) for the 2.0L 2WD Manual Transmission, while the 2.0L 4WD CVT Premium Grade is priced at RMB 219,800 (USD: 30,100). DFL projects sales of more than 3,000 units monthly.

Qashqai becomes the sixth model built at DFL’s Huadu plant, which also manufactures the Livina Geniss, Livina, Sylphy, Tiida sedan and hatchback. The Huadu plant follows the Nissan Production Way (NPW), Nissan’s global production standard for quality.

Launched in February 2007 in Europe, Qashqai has been a global success story for Nissan. Sales in Australia, Europe, Japan, the Middle East and South Africa totaled 140,000 units for CY2007.

In January, Nissan Motor Manufacturing (UK) Ltd. announced that its Sunderland plant, with a 200,000-unit capacity for Qashqai, would create three shifts to increase production, while the Kyushu plant in Japan began Qashqai production in December 2007 with annual capacity of 24,000 units for the vehicle. China is the third country to produce Qashqai.