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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.

Recharge Wrap-up: Renault-Nissan at COP22, BMW launches Cruise e-Bike

The Renault-Nissan Alliance has been chosen to provide a fleet of electric cars for the UN's COP22 Climate Conference in Marrakesh, Morocco. The group will provide 50 passenger EVs – the Renault Zoe, Nissan Leaf, and Nissan e-NV200 – to shuttle delegates to and from conference venues. The Alliance will also provide more than 20 charging stations to support the shuttle fleet. The group provided electric shuttles for the historic COP21 summit in Paris last year. Read more from Renault-Nissan. FCA, Iveco, and gas grid company Snam have signed an agreement to boost natural gas as a cleaner alternative fuel for Italy. Under the Memorandum of Understanding, FCA and Iveco will work together to develop CNG vehicles, while Snam will invest in CNG supply facilities like filling stations to support a growing fleet. Italy leads Europe in the amount of natural gas consumed for transport, with 1 million vehicles currently on the road. Read more at Green Car Congress. LG Chem has officially announced it will build a battery plant in Poland to the tune of about $340 million. Located near Wroclaw in southwestern Poland, the plant is expected to produce 100,000 batteries a year for 200-mile EVs beginning in 2019. The plant could help Poland in its goal to reduce pollution by introducing a million EVs on its roads by 2025. "We will turn the Poland EV battery plant into a mecca of battery production for electric vehicles around the world," says UB Lee, President of LG Chem's Energy Solution Company. Construction begins in the second half of 2017. Read more from Automotive News Europe. BMW has introduced the Cruise e-Bike. Its Bosch Performance Line electric motor provides electric assistance at speeds of up to 15 mph. The battery can be either be removed or remain on the bike for charging, which takes 3.5 hours for a full charge. "BMW aims to be the leading provider of premium mobility services, and our bicycle collection furthers that mission," says BMW Accessory and Lifestyle Manager Eric Riehle. "As we enter the holiday season, these bikes make the perfect present for those wishing for their first BMW." The BMW Cruise e-Bike costs $3,430. Read more from BMW.

Apple iTunes Radio picks Nissan as first automotive launch partner

With the launch of iOS 7 last week, those who carry around a certain fruit-branded cellphone got access to a new technology called iTunes Radio. Apple's delayed entry into a market currently dominated by service such as Spotify and Pandora, iTunes Radio allows users to create their own stations or to choose from a number of featured stations. From there, listeners can fine tune their results to deliver more popular songs or newer, deeper tracks. Each song is linked back to the iTunes store, allowing users to easily buy songs they fall in love with.
Now, Nissan has teamed with Apple as the exclusive launch partner for iTunes Radio. This partnership means you'll be seeing some Nissan-specific content when you're surfing through iTunes Radio, with some subtler stuff in the form of material and some not-so-subtle approaches, like Nissan's use of iAd, a system that allows developers to directly insert advertisements into apps. The focus at first will be on the upcoming Rogue, the redesigned Versa Note and the Leaf EV.
Nissan's vice president of marketing in North America, Jon Brancheau, explained the team up, saying, "We see iTunes Radio as an integral part of our new vehicle launches and 'big moments,' riding the wave of interest and usage of this exciting new service to maximize exposure of Nissan's new models." Take a look below for the rundown from Nissan.