Nissan X-Trail car review | Business Car Manager

Nissan X-Trail car review – the SUV turns company car

Gone is the more traditional 4x4 air of the old X-Trail and in its place is a sleek blown-up version of the Qashqai. Even in 4WD guise it's a pretty deft company car tax dodger.

M By Matt Morton

29 May 2014 6 min read

Nissan X-Trail dci 130 Tekna

What is it?

The all-new Nissan X-Trail is a thoroughly modern interpretation of the classic SUV recipe and, as a result, it’s a far more attractive proposition for company car drivers.

If it looks like a larger version of the Qashqai crossover, that’s because it essentially is. Nissan has killed off the old Qashqai+2 seven-seater, giving the seven-seat X-Trail a unique place in the range. But – to mix things up – the X-Trail is also available as a five-seater. Confused? Don’t be.

Although the X-Trail was designed as a seven-seat SUV from the ground up, by making it available with a five-seat option, Nissan is essentially just giving buyers a choice. And Nissan expects 70% of buyers to choose the five-seat version.

It’s available as either a two- or four-wheel drive SUV, with a single 130hp dCi 1.6-litre diesel engine available from launch. Nissan’s XTronic CVT transmission is also available on the two-wheel drive version.

The Business Car Manager review and subsequent company car figures are based on the flagship Tekna trim in tax-friendly two-wheel drive guise and with the benefit of seven seats.