Nissan said its 2011 sales in Europe continued to outperform last year’s in every month to date with October 16.5% up year-on-year.
Last month Nissan sold 57,518 units in the region bringing calendar year 2011 sales to over 578,500 – around 21% or 125,000 units ahead of the same period in 2010. European market share for October was 3.8%, a 0.5% year-on-year increase.
Nissan’s sales performance, although up across the range, continues to be driven by increasing demand for the Micra, now imported along with the Pixo from India, and brisk sales of the British-built Qashqai and Juke crossovers.
Juke has already passed 100,000 sales in Europe in less than a year, and the plant in Sunderland, UK continues to operate ‘around the clock’ production to keep pace with demand for the Qashqai [aka Dualis outside Europe].
Top performing markets in October included Russia where Nissan increased overall year-on-year sales by almost 50% to 14,452 units; France, up 33%, and the UK which rose 18% versus 2010.
Guillaume Cartier, Nissan VP for sales operations, said: “In September Nissan broke a 16-year old record and achieved its highest ever market share in Europe. This momentum has carried into October which is more than 8,000 units up on 2010.
“Even more encouraging is the fact this performance is not limited to individual models or markets. Our crossovers are still as popular as ever but we are witnessing an ‘across the range’ improvement with important contributions throughout most of our major markets.”
