IT’S been fairly widely reported that Nissan is doing well in the UK at the moment.
Perhaps the most impressive statistic is that more than a million Qashqais have been produced at the company’s Sunderland plant since production of the car started there roughly five years ago.
Productivity has increased by a tremendous amount as the company keeps up with demand for its products.
But what shouldn’t be overlooked is the continuing strength of the Japanese automaker’s performance on its home turf.
Latest figures published in the Asian edition of the Wall Street Journal show that Nissan churned out 115,932 vehicles in Japan in October.
In the same month, domestic sales were up an impressive 39.3 per cent to 46,851 vehicles while exports rose 14.8 per cent to 73,162 vehicles.
Nissan’s two principal competitors in its Far Eastern homeland, Honda and Toyota, also put in strong performances, although prospects for November’s figures for all three companies look less certain as they may be affected by flooding that took place in Thailand in October.
The flooding will have disrupted the supply of parts made in that country.
Toyota reported that the flooding had caused them to cut back production in late October, but despite that, their output grew for the third straight month, showing a 33 per cent gain from the previous year. Honda too reported brisk advances.