Nissan achieves record European market share for April

Buoyed by the launch of new Micra and the continuing success of the pioneering Qashqai crossover, Nissan has sold a total of 235,543 vehicles in January-April, an increase of more than 61,000 units versus 2010.

This performance has seen Nissan improve its share of the overall European market over the same period to 3.8 per cent, a 0.9 per cent increase against last year.

April accounted for 53,840 sales, more than 20 per cent up on 2010, securing a monthly market share of 3.5 per cent.

In addition to robust sales of Micra and Qashqai, the Sunderland-built Juke crossover is also performing strongly with 36,500 sales so far in 2011 and nearly 60,000 since its launch last September.

The X-TRAIL SUV and Barcelona-produced Navara Pickup are also making a significant contribution with calendar year sales up by 56 per cent and 71 per cent respectively in the January-April period.

Bernard Loire, vice president of Sales Operations Europe, commented: “Nissan’s excellent start to 2011 is continuing, with April sales nearly 9,500 units above 2010, setting an all-time record market share for the month.

“All of our major European markets have shown an impressive year-on-year improvement in the January – April period, including Russia, UK and Spain where Nissan is now the top-selling Japanese brand,” Loire said.

Nissan has one of the most comprehensive European presences of any overseas manufacturer, employing more than 12,500 staff across locally-based design, research & development, manufacturing, logistics and sales & marketing operations.

Last year Nissan plants in the UK, Spain and Russia produced more than 528,000 vehicles including mini-MPVs, award-winning crossovers, SUVs and commercial vehicles.