Meet Peter Karl Eastland – the man who Nissan claims has helped achieve that coveted ‘new-car smell’ for the latest Qashqai.

Peter, who’s an Odour Evaluation Lead Engineer based at Nissan Technical Centre Europe, is blessed with an extremely acute sense of smell – a gift he realised he had at an early age.

Along with a panel of other engineers and technicians, he’s responsible for ensuring the smell delivers a positive response among Nissan’s new car customers.

“We aim to provide the best sensory experience for the customer,” said Peter. “While tastes and preferences evolve over time, smell remains a constant.

“Therefore, it is part of our job to make sure that any material we use is always going to be perfect in terms of scent and that all of the senses are harmonised.”

From premium leather to polymers, every part is rigorously assessed in a symphony of science and art – ensuring an uncompromised life-on-board and ownership experience.

The evaluation process blends objective and subjective assessment, culminating in a rigorous process that leaves no stone unturned in the pursuit of that perfect “new-car smell”.

“That new car smell isn’t just a consequence of the manufacturing process; months of work are devoted throughout the development phase of the new vehicle to carefully analyse the use of materials and chemicals, such as seat fabric, adhesives, and polymers, to ensure that they don’t combine to generate an unpleasant odour for the car’s occupants,” adds David Moss, Senior Vice President, Region Research & Development.