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GENEVA SHOW: Nissan's new 4x4 is an X-trail blazer
Date: 07 March 2007
The big news from Nissan at the Geneva show is the unveiling of an all-new, all round bigger X-trail 4x4.
Hot on the heals of the toughened Qashqai hatch, Nissan bosses, speaking exclusively to BusinessCar, were keen to stress the new car addresses "all the weaknesses of old".
In comes a brand new floorplan, which improves the X-trail's already fine drive, while under the bonnet Nissan adopts both 150PS and 173PS 2.0-litre diesels from Renault. The former can be mated to an automatic for the first time.
On the petrol front there is the choice of a 140PS petrol and the old 2.5, which Nissan promises has had its refinement improved.
Inside there's more space all-round - although the X-trail remains a five seater - and engineers are especially proud of a big jump in the quality of materials used and a new flexible load floor arrangement.
On sale in September the X-trail will be between £500-£1000 more expensive than the car it replaces.
Nissan exes could hardly wipe the smile off their collective faces at the success of not only the existing X-trail that sold 11,500 units last year (the original estimate was 4500), but of the new British-built Qashqai model too - demand is so high Nissan is struggling to make enough. An extra Saturday shift at the factory has already been implemented.
The other buzz around the Nissan stand was the muscular 350Z coupe receiving an all-new 3.5-litre V6, with power up to 310PS. The more powerful car can be distinguished by the pronounced power bulge on the bonnet.
