Christopher Sharp drove the Nissan Qashqai, one of the UK's best selling cars, to find out what it was like as the car celebrates its 20th birthday07:49, 10 Jul 2026When a car reaches its 20th birthday, it's a landmark moment — if it's made it that far, the manufacturer has clearly done something right. Prime examples include the Ford Fiesta, Porsche 911, Ford Mustang, Honda Civic, and the VW Beetle.‌All of these cars have either run or ran for multiple decades because they've successfully hit their target market. Buyers kept coming back, demand stayed strong, or the market made it worthwhile for manufacturers to keep rolling them off the production line.‌This year, the Nissan Qashqai celebrates its 20th birthday, and it's going from strength to strength. According to the SMMT, it is the fourth-most popular car in the UK with 15,699 models sold in 2026. Only the Ford Puma, Kia Sportage and Jaecoo 7 have outsold it.‌So I duly rolled out the birthday cake, dusted off the candles, and spent a week behind the wheel of the latest model to see how it measures up.The numbersThis is the dry but nonetheless essential part. The model I tested was the N-Connecta e-Power 205 PS Automatic 2WD version of the Qashqai SUV.‌That means it's two-wheel drive, fitted with a hybrid system, and comes with five seats, a one-and-a-half litre three-cylinder engine, an automatic gearbox, and a generously sized boot.Tipping the scales at around two tonnes, the car offers a boot capacity of roughly 500 litres with the seats up and just under 1,500 litres with them folded flat. It spans two metres in width and stretches to nearly four and a half metres in length.As tested in magnetic blue (the official colour), this particular spec came in at £38,825.‌The Nissan Qashqai holds a special place in automotive history because it truly kickstarted the SUV revolution in Britain.While Porsche and BMW had already been turning heads with the Cayenne and X5 for several years, this was one of the first occasions that motorists without a hefty bank balance could get their hands on a decent quality SUV.The British public, along with much of the world where Nissan sold the car, fell head over heels for the Qashqai. These days, SUVs dominate Britain's roads, with manufacturers across all price ranges churning out models in every conceivable shape and size.‌There are even dedicated awards for best small, medium and large SUV. The Nissan played its part in all of that, and it all began back in 2006.What's it like on the insideMuch like many of its rivals, the Nissan's cabin finds itself at something of a turning point. Manufacturers are beginning to cotton on to the fact that not everybody wants to operate everything through a touchscreen.‌As a result, there's a satisfying collection of physical buttons on the steering wheel - no haptic touch pads in sight - meaning you rarely need to stretch over and tap the touchscreen.As you'd expect from a family SUV, there's no shortage of storage compartments and several USB-C charging points for your phones and gadgets. There is a wireless charging pad, though it's best avoided because, as with virtually every similar pad I've previously tested, it tends to overheat your phone rather uncomfortably.Stick to the USB-C instead. Once you've familiarised yourself with the controls and configured everything to your preference, it's fairly straightforward to operate and manage.‌While it doesn't quite match the very best, it's certainly amongst the better half of vehicles I've tested this year in terms of ease of use.What's it like to driveAs with many hybrids, it features regenerative braking. This is where lifting off the accelerator causes the car to brake while generating electricity that feeds back into the battery. Similar to the Toyota Prius, though to a lesser degree, you can adjust this to some extent.‌It can prove quite responsive, but this requires you as the driver to refine your technique, being more delicate when easing off the accelerator into a bend, sensing when the regeneration kicks in, then responding as you transition onto the brakes. This will benefit not only the car's poise, but also ensure a smoother journey for any passengers on board.The vehicle, being an SUV, will never possess sportscar agility, but bearing that in mind it's well-balanced. Stacked against other models in the SMMT's top five best-selling cars, it holds its own rather well.It exhibits considerably less body roll than the Ford Puma, delivers more feedback than the Jaecoo 7, and its hybrid system feels more polished than the Kia Sportage.Article continues belowIt won't rival an Audi for steering precision, but you receive sufficient feedback to navigate the car through a B road bend. You're never going to drive this aggressively, but the engine responds keenly, and the suspension is compliant; you never feel compelled to engage sport mode.VerdictIt's a practical car with a spacious boot, ample headroom in the rear for passengers of all ages, and impressive efficiency to boot. It's easy to understand why Nissan has continued manufacturing it for two decades and intends to carry on until the SUV craze subsides.Christopher's Verdict: 7.5/10.