Reflecting its success in the Moroccan market, the Nissan Qashqai was named SUV of the year from Autonews magazine. The award ceremony was held in Casablanca, Morocco.
Autonews magazine made the selection after more than 30,000 consumers participated in a poll, considered one of the most important surveys in Morocco. The poll starts by allowing more than 30,000 voters to choose from hundreds of models in all categories, with 10 cars being nominated as finalists. The finalists then enter a series of dynamic and endurance tests and earn points for each category. The tests were held in the international circuit Moulay El Hassan of Marrakech.
Qashqai earned the title as the best SUV in the Moroccan market for the third consecutive year after enduring several tests, proving its supremacy among other models in the SUV category while gaining the most points in the all the tests.
Qashqai maintains record sales volume of 8,422 units sold since it was first launched in Morocco in December 2014. Qashqai was one of the most sold cars in Morocco in 2016 by selling 4,667 units, which represents 14.6 percent of SUV segment sales in the Moroccan market.
Isao Sekiguchi, chairman and managing director of Nissan North Africa, said that Qashqai’s unique success reflects Nissan’s strategy of putting customers and consumers as the top priority.
In Morocco, Qashqai comes equipped with a 1.5-liter diesel engine producing 110bhp. It reaches 100 km per hour (62mph) in 11.9 seconds. Qashqai also comes with in a faster version equipped with a 1.6-liter diesel engine with 130bhp and a 0-100 km time of 9.9 seconds.
