The undisputed star of the Nissan stand at next month’s Geneva Show will be the Qazan Concept which promises to provide a good indication of the, as yet unnamed, small crossover that the Japanese automaker is readying for production at its UK Sunderland plant from 2010. While the first official teaser shot of the car leaves a lot to the imagination, Nissan did reveal that the Qazan is a five-door model with the rear doors opening forwards once the front doors have been opened, in the style of ‘suicide doors’.
Nissan said that the trial builds of the production version will begin in early 2010 before its introduction on the Micra/Note line. There it will take up manufacturing capacity created when production of the current Micra ends later that same year.
Trevor Mann, Nissan Senior Vice President for Manufacturing in Europe, commented: “The difficulties currently facing the car industry have been widely documented, and Nissan has not been immune. As a result we have had to make some difficult decisions, but the reason we have done so is to secure a long and positive future for the plant. Qazana points the way to that future and gives an indication of the unique and exciting car we will be producing in Sunderland next year.”