SALES in 2011 are continuing to outperform 2010 in every month to date, with October 16.5 per cent up year-on-year, latest figures from Nissan confirm.
Last month, Nissan sold 57,518 units in Europe. This now brings calendar year sales to date to more than 578,500 – around 125,000 units (21 per cent) up over the same period in 2010.
Sales in the UK in October were up 18 per cent compared to the same month last year.
Nissan’s European market share for October was 3.8 per cent, representing a 0.5 per cent year-on-year increase.
The Japanese firm’s sales performance, although up across the range, continues to be driven by increasing demand for the Micra and brisk sales of the Qashqai and Juke crossovers.
Juke has already passed the 100,000 sales landmark in Europe in less than a year, and Nissan’s plant in Sunderland continues to operate ‘around the clock’ production to keep pace with demand for Juke’s bigger brother, Qashqai.
Last month Qashqai became even more desirable following the introduction of an all-new 1.6 litre diesel engine which, when combined with Nissan’s engine start-stop system, emits just 119g of CO2 / km with no compromise in performance.
Guillaume Cartier, Nissan VP for sales operations in Europe, 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.’