Nissan unveiled the restyled and upgraded 2020 Nissan Qashqai at the Chicago Auto Show today. Although technically, it didn’t, since the compact crossover is actually known as the Rogue Sport south of the border. The thinking for that is simply that it’s felt American consumers would be turned off by having to fight with the pronunciation of the Qashqai name.
Regardless, the model known as Qashqai everywhere else has gotten a moderate revision for 2020, starting with a new front-end appearance. Overall, the exterior changes aim to make the Qashqai more distinct from its larger Rogue stablemate. The new front fascia features a new hood, Vmotion grille and bumper. The aggressive lighting treatment includes LED signature Daytime Running Lights. The rear gets a new design for the lights to match the changes in front.
Nissan has now made the Nissan Safety Shield 360 suite of systems, previously included on upper trims, standard equipment from the base version on up. The system comprises functions like intelligent emergency braking with pedestrian detection, rear intelligent emergency braking, lane departure warning, radar-based blind spot warning, rear cross traffic alert and high beam assist.
Once again the model will feature the rear door alert system as standard equipment, and offer the option of adding ProPilot Assist, a drive-assist system that relieves the driver of some active functions in certain situations.
The powertrain
The new edition holds on to the same engine as in 2019, which is a 141-hp 2.0L DOHC 16-valve inline 4-cylinder engine working with either a manual transmission (in some trims) or an Xtronic transmission with Eco Mode switch. The 2020 Qashqai will come in a front-wheel-drive configuration by default, with AWD as an available option.
“Our Qashqai is a critical vehicle in Nissan's popular CUV lineup; slotted strategically between the Nissan Kicks and Rogue. We're committed to keeping our crossover/SUV portfolio fresh… and we're not letting up heading into 2020.”
- Steve Rhind, director of marketing, Nissan Canada
