NISSAN believes it can shake up the family hatchback sector with its latest model. Matt Westcott travelled to Barcelona to test the new Pulsar.

NISSAN pretty much declared the family hatchback dead when it killed off the unremarkable Almera in 2006.

To paraphrase a famous sketch, it had kicked the bucket, shuffled off its mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible.

From now on the crossover was king and so we got the Qashqai and latterly the Juke. Both of which have become huge success stories.

So, with that in mind, why has the company returned to a sector it effectively decreed there was no market for?

Well, it has discovered there is and result of that is the Pulsar.

As one of Nissan’s top men told me at its European launch last week: “(Pulsar) is for people who can’t afford or don’t want a crossover. It’s an audience we are currently missing out on today.”

So what is Pulsar and why should you buy one over the likes of Ford’s Focus, VW’s Golf and Vauxhall’s Astra?

Well, the long and short of it, according to Nissan, is quite frankly that. It has more distance between its wheels than any of its competitors.

While it has much in the way of onboard technology and the like, it is the space inside that Nissan is extolling.

With 2,700mm to play with, Nissan has been able to create a cabin that offers more rear legroom and shoulder room than its rivals.

It is even enough to put some bigger cars in the shade.

Designed to cater for a family of five, the Pulsar possesses a 385 litre boot, increasing to 1,395 litres with the seats down.

Externally it certainly possesses character, although not all of its own, having borrowed, quite understandably, some design cues from the aforementioned Qashqai.

Underneath the bonnet is a choice of two engines, a 1.2 litre DIG-T petrol unit and a 1.5 litre dCi diesel.

We put both to the test on the roads around Barcelona, where the car is being built.

Smaller petrol units with bigger output are very much the vogue these days and Nissan’s works well on the tight streets of urban Costa Brava. However, on some of the sweeping mountain roads it lacked the punch to make overtaking a confident process.

The diesel, on the other hand, possessed more in the way of oomph and while Nissan expects an even split from purchasers, this is the model I would prefer.

For those who would still rather opt for petrol, a more powerful 1.6 litre turbocharged version is due early next year.

One thing you can say for the current petrol powered model is that it is a quiet little car, with both engine and road noise kept to a bare minimum.

With an opportunity to see what the Pulsar was made of on some of Spain’s uncluttered motorways I have to admit I came away a little non-plussed. It possessed little of the driver involvement of say the Mazda 3, with the steering offering minimal feedback and the handling set more for the stringbacked gloves and Werther’s Originals brigade than those who prefer leather pants and designer shades.

While it lacks excitement, the Pulsar offers a comfortable ride and you should arrive at your destination unflustered.

There are the usual four specifications comprising of Visia, Acenta, n-tec and Tekna. As is commonplace these days, even the entry car – which starts at £15,995 - comes with a decent level of kit, with Nissan saying that some features are often more likely to be found on midrange cars.

Standout features in the range include a ‘Safety Shield’ that incorporates the likes of forward emergency braking, moving object detection and lane departure warning and a neat 360 degree camera.

There’s also the second generation of the NissanConnect system that enables smartphone connection, Google Send-To-Car and access to a wide range of apps.

Plenty of thought has gone into the Pulsar and thankfully it’s no Almera, but this is a tough sector and Nissan’s rivals have stolen a march in recent years, so time will tell if it’s a happy return.