You can play a fun video game while driving Nissan’s new Qashqai – but don’t worry it is perfectly safe.

At the end of each journey when you turn off the engine, a digital display pops up with a fuel consumption read-out and asks if you would like to save the information. This quickly turns into a highly competitive affair as you try to beat the previous record.

That, of course, is all to the good, for the keys to using less fuel are improving concentration, observation and anticipation, while also leaving more space and time – the same crucial elements that contribute to safer driving.

And safety has always been a priority for the family-friendly Qashqai that maintains its 2014 five-star Euro NCAP safety rating.

Nissan announced today that it had capped a record-breaking year in Europe in 2017 with the production of the three millionth Qashqai at its Sunderland plant, just over a decade after the Qashqai made its debut.

Priced from £19,295, every new Qashqai comes with anti-lock brakes, electronic brakeforce distribution and stability control, along with a tyre pressure monitoring system and six airbags as standard.

And the car driven here, in top-of-the-range Tekna+ specification also came with full LED headlights that, on dipped beam, use an ‘adaptive front lighting system’, which means dynamic cornering lamps operate in conjunction with the vehicle’s speed and steering inputs to give greater illumination of a corner’s apex for better visibility.

This impressively equipped, ultimate Qashqai pampers both driver and passengers with redesigned seats trimmed in soft nappa leather and 3D quilting on the centre panels. Black leather is standard, with the choice of a rich plum colour as a £495 option.

The driver’s seat is electrically-controlled with four-way pneumatic lumbar support, allowing you to fine-tune the seating position, enhancing comfort and reducing fatigue. A seat memory function with two stored positions has been added, linked to the door mirrors.

Also fitted to the Tekna+ is a new Bose eight-speaker audio system and externally, to help you stand out from the crowd, Tekna+ models come with gloss silver door mirror caps and roof rails.

That’s not to say the level of standard equipment is anything but enticing, with manual air-conditioning, DAB digital radio, Bluetooth connectivity, cruise control with speed limiter, electrically-adjustable heated door mirrors and one-touch power window switches on all four doors fitted as standard across the range.

The Qashqai is Europe’s best-selling urban crossover and its upgrades are designed to keep it that way, with tangible reductions in cabin noise, making travel even more relaxed.

The car’s enduring appeal is largely due to its versatile cabin space and its sizeable boot space. The boot is not only usefully large but flexible, with a carrying capacity of 430 litres increasing to 1,598 litres when the 60:40 split rear seats are folded flat. The boot also shelves and dividers that can be adjusted in any one of 18 configurations.

For the record, the best fuel consumption figure that I could manage, according to the car’s onboard computer, against the ‘official’ fuel economy combined figure of 74.3mpg was 66.2mpg, but I will settle for that.

Auto facts

Model: Nissan Qashqai Tekna+ 1.5 dCi 110

Price: £30,325

Insurance group: 15 (1-50)

Fuel consumption (combined): 74.3mpg

Top speed: 113mph

Length: 439.4cm/173in

Width: 180.6cm/71.1in

Luggage capacity: 15.2 cu ft

Fuel tank capacity: 12.1 gallons/55 litres

CO2 emissions: 99 g/km

Warranty: Three years/ 60,000 miles