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'Qashqai' so hard to pronounce even Nissan is poking fun at it

In the US, there aren't a lot of vehicle names that are very difficult to pronounce. Maybe the Volkswagen Touareg might trip up a few people, but by and large, we've got it pretty easy. Our friends in Europe, though, have a bigger challenge, thanks to vehicles like the Nissan Qashqai. Yes, Qashqai.
Like the Touareg, the Qashqai draws its name from a nomadic people. While Nissan isn't making up words, then, it's still not an easy name to pronounce. Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson routinely calls it a kumquat, for example. According to Nissan, though, it's pronounced "Cash'kai".
To get its point across as the second-gen Qashqai, the close cousin of the US market Rogue, prepares to launch in Australia, Nissan set up a little event at a coffee shop. Customers would place their orders, only to have the spelling of their names butchered rather badly. On the other side of the cup, there's a message from Nissan and the Qashqai.

Is Nissan's Le Mans LMP1 racer really going to be front engined?

Since debuting the Nissan GT-R LM Nismo under a sheet earlier this year, Nissan has kept a very tight wrap on details about the racer. The company simply promised that the model would be on the starting grid for the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans. However, the automaker had an aggressive attitude about the new program and said that the vehicle would "win in a very different way." The brand also hinted the final result wouldn't look like its competitors. This rendering suggests just how divergent the GT-R LM might be. Posted by Jalopnik, the rendering was supposedly based on the descriptions of people who have actually seen the racer. They described a car with a very long nose, and a rear that was potentially narrower than the front. From those details the pictures of a reverse Deltawing is almost conceivable. Judging by the original teaser image, this description actually sounds somewhat plausible too. The draping of the sheet in that photo could suggest some empty space at the back. According to this rumor, underneath that long snout could be an even bigger revelation – the engine. These days putting the powerplant ahead of the driver in a top-class endurance racer – even if it's behind the front axle for a mid-engine layout – is almost unheard of. Nissan trying it would certainly fall under a different way of winning. Though, such a thing was done by Panoz in the 2000s. Nissan is clear about keeping the racecar and road version at least somewhat related, especially technologically. Jalopnik speculates that the engine could be a gasoline-fueled twin-turbocharged V6 powering the rear wheels and a hybrid spinning the front and rear with a total system output of 1,000 horsepower or more. That figure is right on the money for modern LMP1 cars since the 2014-championship winning Toyota TS040 packs about 986 hp total. In the past few years, Nissan has failed to finish Le Mans with both the Deltawing that it sponsored and the ZEOD RC project. If these rumors prove true, then even getting the GT-R LM to see the checkered flag could be quite an accomplishment no matter where it finishes. Rumor has it that Nissan might show at least a glimpse of the vehicle during the company's Super Bowl ad this year. Related Gallery 2015 Nissan GT-R LM Nismo Announcement View 16 Photos News Source: JalopnikImage Credit: Jason Torchinsky via Jalopnik Design/Style Motorsports Nissan Racing Vehicles rendering nissan gt-r lm nismo nissan gt-r lm

Semi-autonomous Nissan Leaf certified for road use in Japan [w/video]

In order to meet its goal of having an autonomous car in production by 2020, Nissan is going to have be able to test its technology in real-world driving conditions. For this, the automaker has just received a license plate to legally test its semi-autonomous driver assist systems in Japan, marking the first time such technologies have been tested on that country's roads. Not ironically, the license plate number is 2020.
Though not fully autonomous, this Leaf prototype will test various components of a self-driving car including exiting the highway, the ability to stay in its lane and change lanes when needed, stopping at red lights and overtaking stopped or slow traffic. Nissan is also in the process of building a proving ground in Oppama, Japan dedicated solely to autonomous cars, but the ability to test on public roads will obviously play a crucial role in the development of these cars. Scroll down for a short video and press release Nissan posted to mark the occasion.