Nissan X-Trail Latest Fruit of Global Collaboration

IOANNINA, Greece – Here in the mountains near the Albanian border, Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. presents its new X-Trail, a cross/utility vehicle sharing the Alliance Platform C.

The story of the X-Trail is the recent story of Nissan – a certain amount of international co-operation, loads of customer clinics and a vague notion of platform sharing.

Several years ago, partner Renault SA developed a C-segment platform for the current Megane family, which was to be the basis for the Alliance C architecture. But Japanese engineers took hold of the platform and changed it with input from Nissan tech centers in North America and Europe, as well as a continuing interest from Renault engineers.

Little was carried over besides its C-platform name.

The first vehicle on this architecture was the Japanese Lafesta minivan, followed by the European Qashqai CUV.

Americans will get the Rogue CUV, which the U.S. tech center adapted to handle larger engines needed for the North American market.

Next year, Renault will introduce its own version of the X-Trail, with a unique body but shared underpinnings, and the platform – likely to be well-updated once again by engineers in France – also will serve as the basis for the next Megane family of passenger cars.

There is no plan to bring the X-Trail to North America, although in a fuel-economy-conscious world, its efficiency probably has tempted some product planners. It is longer but smaller than the Xterra, which is coming to the end of its life, and its 2.5L gasoline engine gets 25 mpg (9.4 L/100 km), 56% better than the 4.0L Xterra.

X-Trail shares platform with Lafesta, Qashqai and Rogue.

Although the X-Trail is a completely new vehicle, it looks like its predecessor. All the body panels are new, but the vehicles share proportions, lines and stance.

“We had the advantage of 300,000 X-Trail customers to talk to,” says Pierre Loing, head of marketing for Nissan Europe. “We got the message loud and clear: They told us that we changed the X-Trail at our risk. People loved it, and many of them didn’t want to know anything about any change.”

None the less, the vehicle is slightly bigger and 165 lbs. (75 kg) heavier than its predecessor. It has more luggage space, with a double floor in the trunk area, and seats for four that fold out of the way.

After the 3-continent consultation on the C-platform, individual vehicles were designed in one place or another. The Qashqai was created in the U.K., where it is built, with influence from Japan where it also is sold. The X-Trail was designed and is built in Japan, with influence from Europe.

“Japan wanted growth,” says Kevin Huck, a senior engineer at the Nissan Europe Technical Centre in Cranfield, U.K. “We didn’t complain about it.

“We specified the functionality needed in Europe and Japan did the basic engineering.”

European engineers and developers specified requirements for the navigation system, the size of cans and bottles needed by cupholders and the size of map books likely to be stored in the glove box. Engineering was done with numeric models, and only one metal prototype came from Japan to Europe for final fine tuning, as 98% of the prototype had been built with the final tooling.

“On the dynamic side, we needed a vehicle to be comfortable at 180 km/h (112 mph),” Huck says. “Japan is not worried about wind noise over 100 km/h (62 mph), but it is important here.”

Aside from the powertrains, the Qashqai and the X-Trail share few components. The bodies are different, with the X-Trail 30% more rigid than the Qashqai, and brakes and suspension are toughened up for the X-Trail’s off-road expectations.

The X-Trail is skewed more toward ride comfort than handling, Huck says, while the Qashqai emphasizes handling.

The launch was held in Europe, even though it was a Japanese engineering project, because more sales are expected in left-hand-drive markets than in Japan.

People in Japan have more spare cash at a younger age than in Europe, Huck says, so the car, which will sell in France to a mature audience for about €30,000 ($40,061), is a young person’s car in Japan.

“There was a discussion about how to adjust the reclining seat; do we like a dial or a lever?” recalls Huck. “In Europe, the market is about half and half, so we didn’t care. Japan really wanted the lever, because young people there go someplace in the country and sleep in their car.”

The X-Trail is going on sale in LHD markets soon – July in France – and right-hand-drive markets such as Japan and the U.K. will begin in October.

While the former X-Trail sold an average of 54,000 units a year through its lifespan, the new one is being budgeted for a 50,000-unit average because of new competitors from Renault and PSA Peugeot Citroen in 2008, as well as other Asian makers.