GETTING IT right first time is something automotive manufacturers crave.

And one brand which hit the target dead centre was Nissan with is Qashqai crossover.

The Qashqai spearheaded the early days of this genre and as such is the true crossover pioneer.

A crossover is a mix of the qualities of a traditional hatchback and a sports utility vehicle.

Some hatchback drivers craved the space of an SUV but could not afford the usually hefty pricetag and some SUV drivers wanted to downsize to a hatchback but were reluctant to lose the space and elevated driving position.

And so entered the crossover which, as can be imagined, has to be a finely measured mix of both.

Nissan took a long look at how it thought the market would develop and in drove the Qashqai more than eight years ago.

It rapidly became Nissan's best-selling model in Europe and continues to set the standards in the sector it virtually created.

Launched across all Nissan markets during 2014, the latest version of the Qashqai has built on the strength of its predecessor, enjoying strong demand from customers across the world.

Key to this success has been the Qashqai's advanced safety systems - cleverly networked together to form the Nissan Safety Shield.

Designed to offer maximum protection to both occupants, other road users and pedestrians, the Qashqai's Safety Shield technology proved its effectiveness during the car's assessment by independent testing organisation Euro NCAP.

Thanks to an impressive performance in all key impact and protection tests, the organisation named the Qashqai as the safest small family car on the market, having scored more points than any other car tested.

The new Qashqai features an advanced new DIG-T 163ps petrol engine to the line-up. Fully compliant with strict Euro 6 emissions regulations, the new 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbocharged unit combines sharp performance with low CO2 output and exceptional fuel economy.

The new unit develops 163ps (120kW) of power at 5,600rpm and 240Nm of torque between 2,000 and 4,000rpm. These impressive figures highlight Nissan's downsizing philosophy and prove that you don't need a large capacity to deliver strong acceleration and in-gear flexibility.

And they are right. Driving this version is like getting back behind the wheel of one of the old pin-sharp 1.6s of a couple of decades ago but without having to dig deep at the pumps.

Combined economy readout is 47.1mpg which would have, at one time, been unheard of in a petrol 1.6-litre. And CO2 emissions are also reasonable at 138g/km.

The test vehicle was the well-equipped n-tec two-wheel-drive version which gives the space, power and image of the crossover without going down the full 4x4 route. It provides a solution for those who enjoy the high driving position but wish to remain with two-wheel-drive.