Sector: SUV Price: €26,790–€38,250 Fuel: 4.9–5.3l/100km CO2: 129–139g/km

With a retail-heavy sales mix and relatively small volumes, the Nissan X-Trail has never been a big player in the fleet sector. But this third generation car stands to have a much more important role in the range.

There’s a much wider market for the new car. Nissan will sell the X-Trail in 190 markets, doubling production to half a million units per year, built at nine sites instead of the four for the outgoing model.

Not all of that growth comes from new markets though. In Europe, the X-Trail has to satisfy two distinct groups of customers. It has to meet the towing and functional needs of the traditional X-Trail buyer, while offering a range wide enough to fill in for the discontinued Qashqai +2.

Nissan says these are customers who want the low running costs and car-like driving experience of a crossover, but with more boot space than the five-seat Qashqai. A fifth of the Qashqai’s massive sales volume was the seven-seat model, so while fleet sales have only swung from 25% to 40% of the total, it's a share of a much larger number.

It means whole-life costs have come under scrutiny. The old 2.0-litre, 173bhp engine has made way for the same 1.6-litre dCi 130 diesel used in the Qashqai. It’s a very quiet engine which doesn’t feel overwhelmed by the larger X-Trail, despite the drop in power. Most importantly it slashes CO2 emissions to 129g/km and cuts fuel consumption to 4.9l/100km for the predicted fleet-favourite two-wheel drive manual version.

Most fleet drivers are expected to size up for luggage space and stick with five seats, so this is available in all trim levels. Four-wheel drive, third-row seating and Nissan’s stepped CVT gearbox are all offered as optional extras to suit buyers’ needs.

The cabin design and materials feel familiar from the Qashqai, and all five-seat versions feature the same luggage board system as the smaller crossover, allowing the huge boot to be separated into useful smaller spaces using sections of the load floor.

As in most MPVs, the third row offers just enough room for adults on short journeys, if the middle row is pushed forward, but it’s better suited to children. Five and seven seat versions can be equipped with a folding passenger seat, giving a 2.6-metre load length.

The biggest differences are felt from behind the wheel. Although the X-Trail shares its modular platform with the Qashqai, there’s been a marked attempt to make it feel more like a D-Segment estate car than its agile smaller sibling. Motorway manners are excellent, the engine delivering strong performance despite its small size and ride quality is respectable even on large wheels, but there’s noticeably more body roll on tighter roads.

Broader appeal is guaranteed, though. Sales of the first Qashqai have shown that customers like rugged but car-like crossovers with low running costs, more than utilitarian off-roaders, and the versatility on offer here makes it a worthy step up in the range. It’s a good foundation for replacing the very popular Qashqai +2.

Verdict:

The X-Trail feels like a scaled up Qashqai, complete with car-like running costs and crossover styling, which bodes well for fleet popularity.