When looking at new car deals you expect to see some sleek shapes and enticing curves, but few vehicles will make it into a contemporary art gallery.
However, the new Nissan Qashqai is one of the beautiful exceptions and will be at the centre of a new show in Gateshead's BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, which starts this Saturday (January 18th).
Visitors to the gallery will see the new model surrounded by rare concept images, which capture the essence of the design process, as well as a Qashqai showreel cinema. The display will lead up to the new car's launch on January 22nd. In addition to the visuals, people will be able to speak to the Nissan team about existing vacancies at the company, with the Japanese group currently looking to add both experienced vehicle and battery maintenance professionals to its workforce.
In order to make sure everyone knows about the event, the world-famous Gateshead Millennium Bridge will light up the night sky with the Nissan logo, providing a huge and unmissable signpost to the gallery.
Kevin Fitzpatrick, Nissan’s vice president for manufacturing in the UK, said: "Nissan has created the next generation Crossover by redesigning Qashqai from the ground-up. We think it’s fitting to celebrate that design in one of Europe’s leading modern art galleries."
He added: "The event will showcase the role of our design and technical centres in developing this innovative new model, as we move into full production at our Sunderland plant."
The Nissan Qashqai has been very popular with car buyers in the UK since it first launched, reinventing the crossover vehicle. Following the initial success, it was announced that further production of the model would be moved to Nissan's Sunderland plant in 2011. It is now the highest volume car made in Great Britain and as a result has helped Nissan to become to biggest UK carmaker in history, with more than one million vehicles rolling off the production line in the past two years alone.
Posted by Emma Grange