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Nissan UK will unveil two new versions of its popular Qashqai crossover at the London motor show this month – the Qashqai+2 and the Sound and Style.
The Qashqai+2, with its 2765mm extended wheelbase, features a third row of foldaway seats. Admittedly the extra seating has been “designed for children or occasional use by small adults”, but luggage space has also increased by 90 litres to 450 litres. That means the bigger Qashqai should easily cope with five adults and their luggage.
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Autocar:

but luggage space has also increased by 90 litres to 450 litres.

According to the specifications on Nissan's website the current boot capacity is 410 litres, so an increase of 90 would make it a very handy 500 litres. I am not the slightest bit interested in an extra couple of midget seats but I am interested in the bigger boot. 410 was just too small but 500 is not for my purposes. The Qashqai comes out very reasonably priced on company car lists for the specification as it is considered to be a desirable second hand buy so hold a good residual against a good purchase price. Well done Nissan your back on my 'maybe' list!

From a distance, it almost looks somewhat like a Mercedes! :-)

A R Chen:

From a distance, it almost looks somewhat like a Mercedes! :-)

 

 
I tried squinting my eyes to see if I could get any kind of MB appearance. Not happening. Anyway, this is just the sort of car most families need. I drive an Espace because I need the occasional 6th or 7th seat but most of the time we only use 5 seats. I'd have bought a Grand Scenic but the fat backside just looks awful. There are plenty of SUV's that have 5+2 layouts but I don't need 4x4 and besides, I'd like to drive a car that wasn't an enormous (or wardrobe-esque-  Touran anyone?) MPV or a gargantuan off-roader. More cars like the Qashquai+2 please. You used to be able to get E-Class estates with fold down seats in the boot- and Volvos too I think. What was wrong with that? I simply don't need a G-Class or an XC90. I want a standard car (even a C-Class estate or an A4 avant) that has 2 fold down chairs for occasional use by children. Come on manufacturers- stop forcing me to drive fat-dad buses!

I wonder if there were safety concerns about the rear-facing seats (not specifically due to facing rear) which stopped them being made like that. I'm sure they go all the way back to the Volvo 240, which was ages ago.

Well, our very own James Ruppert just got a 2000 V70 with the 2 extra rear seats. I reckon Volvo stopped offering them when they came up with the XC90, based on the concept that families with 3 or more children need a car the size of a small caribbean island. So short sighted and prescriptive. Besides, we all know that seats located in the back of cars don't need to face rearward. We all know that they don't need to be suitable for adults too. Am I the only one who gets this????

A R Chen:

From a distance, it almost looks somewhat like a Mercedes! :-)

yeah i know what you mean.  shades of the new C class grill (the non-sport version) and the rear is a bit like the ML.

 

Anybody know if you can get the Q+2 without the annoying glass roof? That's the last thing I want in a car given the campaigning to close the sun roof blind on my current car from my son.

I have that same problem on my soon to be replaced Espace. I paid loads extra for the glassroof thing and it is a nightmare. When the sun is shining you feel like an ant under a magnifying glass and when the sun isn't shining you don't want to look at grey skies anyway.

Should have got parking sensors instead.