Qashqai, Nissan’s First Autonomous Vehicle For Europe To Be Built In UK

A new bill passed in the Queen’s Speech which supports the integration of autonomous vehicle technologies determined Nissan to announce its plans regarding the semi-autonomous Qashqai.

Back in March, the Japanese car manufacturer said that a semi-autonomous “Piloted Drive” version of the Qashqai will hit the European market in 2017, part of the company’s commitment to offer autonomous driving technology into affordable models.

The Qashqai will be the first Nissan model in Europe – and the first UK manufactured car – equipped with the stage one ‘single-lane control’ ProPilot feature – as the vehicle will be mass-produced at the manufacturing plant in Sunderland and sold in the UK as well as markets across Europe.

The system, which will allow the car to drive autonomously in a single lane in heavy traffic conditions on highways, is the first step in Nissan’s long-term commitment to launch a range of vehicles with autonomous capabilities by 2020, as Paul Willcox, Chairman of Nissan Europe, said:

“The introduction of ProPilot technology will be an evolution not a revolution as the building blocks for this are already in place in many of our cars today through our Safety Shield Technology.
Any new legislation, such as we’ve seen announced, that supports the adoption and integration of autonomous vehicle technologies, is a positive for the UK.”