Nissan has revealed the revealing date for its delayed new-generation Qashqai compact SUV, the automaker’s best-selling mannequin in Europe.

Ultimate preparations are properly underway for the introduction of the third-generation Qashqai subsequent spring, forward of its gross sales launch later in 2021, Nissan mentioned in a statement on Friday.

The alternative for the present Qashqai, which has been on sale since 2014, was on account of be unveiled in September however reviews on the time said Nissan had delayed its manufacturing begin by six months, largely on account of setbacks attributable to the coronavirus epidemic.

The way forward for the Qashqai had been topic to hypothesis after Nissan forged doubt on the way forward for the mannequin’s manufacturing plant in Sunderland, England, due to the UK’s unsure Brexit plans.

Nissan had confirmed the mannequin for Sunderland in 2016 however had warned it may reverse the choice if tariffs have been imposed on exports from the UK to the European Union. Nissan said in June this 12 months that the plant could be “unsustainable” if Britain leaves the EU’s single market with out a commerce deal.

On Friday, Nissan confirmed that the brand new Qashqai could be out there with the corporate’s E-power hybrid drivetrain that has proved fashionable in Japan. The expertise reduces gas consumption through the use of a small gasoline engine to behave as a spread extender to cost a battery.

The Qashqai E-power mannequin could have an influence output of 188 hp, Nissan mentioned, with out revealing extra particulars of the drivetrain.

The E-power model of the Nissan Kicks small SUV that was lately launched in Japan makes use of a 1.2-liter, three-cylinder engine, however the Qashqai may use an even bigger engine.

The addition of the hybrid would give Nissan higher potential to struggle again in opposition to key rival Toyota. About 90 % of European gross sales of Toyota’s CH-R compact SUV are hybrid variations.

The Qashqai was as soon as Europe’s top-selling compact SUV. Final 12 months the spot went to the Volkswagen Tiguan, in response to Automotive News Europe’s analysis of segments. Qashqai gross sales in Europe fell 40 % to 99,532 items within the first 9 months, figures from JATO Dynamics market researchers present. VW Tiguan gross sales fell 33 % to 133,044.

The brand new Qashqai may even be offered with a 1.3-liter turbocharged gasoline drivetrain with 12-volt mild-hybrid help and provided in two energy outputs. The present diesel drivetrains will likely be dropped, Nissan mentioned.

The brand new Qashqai will likely be constructed on a closely up to date model of the Renault-Nissan Alliance CMF-C platform, additionally known as CMF-C/D. Nissan mentioned it is going to be the primary time this up to date platform has been used for an alliance mannequin offered in Europe.

The up to date platform was first used on the brand new Rogue midsize SUV offered within the U.S. and the Sylphy sedan offered in China.

Modifications have been made to the platform’s construction, steering, suspension and electrical structure, in comparison with the present CMF-C/D, “to the purpose that it is considerably completely different than the earlier one,” a Nissan spokesman mentioned.

The platform makes use of double the quantity of hot-formed ultra-high-strength metal in comparison with the platform used on the present Qashqai.

Using the lighter metal  helped scale back the load of the body-in-white by 60 kg (132 kilos) and made it 41 % stiffer than the one utilized by the present mannequin, Nissan mentioned.

The brand new platform allowed Nissan to extend the scale of the Qashqai, which is 35mm (1.3 inches) longer than the present automobile. It is also 32mm wider, 25mm taller and the trunk area grows by 50 liters, Nissan mentioned.

The Qashqai will likely be out there in two-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive variations with two separate rear suspension set-ups for every.

The front-wheel-drive mannequin makes use of a torsion beam rear suspension, whereas the all-wheel-drive model opts for a costlier multi-link set-up. Multi-link may even be used on front-wheel-drive vehicles

The Qashqai may even be out there with driver-assistance expertise marketed as ProPilot that has adaptive cruise management and lane centering, and might steer the car in slow-moving visitors. It may well additionally convey the automobile to cease.

The SUV’s expertise may even be capable to learn street indicators and cross reference these on the satellite tv for pc navigation mapping to gradual the automobile to applicable velocity limits.