RIP: Nissan Qashqai axed in South Africa

The Nissan Qashqai is no more in South Africa. Yes, Cars.co.za can confirm that the Japanese company’s local division has discontinued the crossover, quietly bringing down the curtain on this well-known nameplate’s nearly 17-year run in Mzansi.

From what we understand after speaking to multiple sources, stock of the third-generation Qashqai – which was priced at a significant premium compared with its exceedingly more popular predecessors – has almost run dry in South Africa, with this model having already been removed from Nissan’s local website.

The J12-generation Qashqai has exited South Africa.

We’ve asked Nissan South Africa’s communications department for official comment on the matter and will update this article should we receive any additional information. However, considering the Qashqai is imported from United Kingdom (where it’s built in Sunderland), we’d speculate that exchange-rate woes might have something to do with the decision.

UPDATE: Nissan SA has issued Cars.co.za with the following statement: “As part of Nissan’s strategy focused on enhancing the brand’s competitiveness in Africa, we are undergoing a continuous assessment of our vehicle line-up and evaluating future models that best serve the market. For now, Nissan confirms the discontinuation of the current Qashqai model in South Africa. This discontinuation will not impact the aftersales services currently provided to our customers.

Nissan South Africa is currently evaluating opportunities for new products and an updated product plan will be shared in due course. Nissan would like to assure its customers and stakeholders that it remains committed to South Africa.

For the record, our figures suggest Nissan sold just 879 units of the Qashqai in 2023, which translates to a monthly average of only 73 units. After moving around 150 units every month in 2024’s opening quarter (150 in January, 151 in February and 157 in March), local Qashqai registrations fell to a mere 10 units in April 2024, before zero sales were reported in May 2024.

The third-gen Qashqai was available in three flavours in SA.

A facelifted version of the Qashqai was revealed overseas in April 2024, but it doesn’t appear to be on the cards for SA. With the likes of the NP200, Almera and Micra – not to mention the entire Datsun brand – having been pulled from the local market over the past couple of years, Nissan SA’s range has now been reduced to the Magnite, X-Trail, Patrol and Rosslyn-built Navara.

Before the axe fell, the third-generation Qashqai line-up had comprised three front-wheel-drive derivatives, each powered by a turbocharged 1.3l, four-cylinder petrol engine generating 96kW and 240Nm in base Visia (six-speed manual) form, and 110kW and 260Nm in mid-tier Acenta (CVT) and top-spec Acenta Plus (CVT) guise. Pricing ran from R568,200 to R670,600, with the promised e-Power derivative unfortunately never making it to local shores.

The original Qashqai hit the local market in September 2007.

As a reminder, the original Qashqai (J10) launched in South Africa in September 2007, slotting neatly into Nissan’s line-up below the X-Trail of the era. Well in excess of 20,000 units of this Mk1 model were registered across the country over the next six or so years, before the second-gen Qashqai (J11) arrived in mid-2014 and continued the nameplate’s sales success.

Finally, the ill-fated third-gen model (J12) touched down in September 2022. But, according to our maths, only around 1,700 examples of the J12-gen Qashqai were sold in Mzansi before Nissan SA pulled the plug.

The Mk2 version of the Qashqai launched in Mzansi towards the middle of 2014.

Pronounced “Kash-Kai”, Nissan’s prototypical crossover was named after a semi-nomadic tribe in southern Iran but interestingly wore the “Dualis” badge in its domestic market of Japan, as well as in Australia (the latter seemingly over concerns it would be dubbed – not entirely inaccurately at the time, it must be said – Nissan’s “cash cow”).

Fascinatingly, the original Qashqai was conceived as an indirect replacement to the N16-gen Almera hatchback that was never offered here in South Africa (but was struggling against the likes of the Volkswagen Golf and Ford Focus over in Europe). Styled by Nissan’s design office on the Old Continent, the Mk1 Qashqai was positioned as a “robust alternative to the more generic hatchbacks in the segment”.

This article was originally published on Cars.co.za...