Qashqai SUV a big hit as Chinese sales soar 70% year on year and worldwide sales rise 15%
Nissan's sales have hit an all-time high after Chinese consumers rediscovered their taste for Japanese cars.
The Japanese company said it had sold almost 460,000 cars and vans in December, 15% more than last year and an all-time record. The boom was in large part down to Chinese consumers, who drove away the Nissan Teana saloon and Qashqai SUV in record numbers. Nissan's year-on-year sales in China for December were up 70% to 134,160.
The figures are a snapshot of the lucrative ties between the world's third and second largest economies, which are currently embroiled in a potentially explosive dispute over some small islands and uninhabited rocks in the South China Sea.
Production in China was also at a record high, with around 130,600 vehicles rolling off Nissan's assembly lines in the country.
In Europe, Nissan's December's monthly sales rose 8.8% to 56,000 cars and vans. This reflects the recent industry-wide upturn in car sales across the continent after many countries saw purchases fall off a cliff during the recession. Acea, the association of european carmakers, said on Tuesday that it expects European car sales to grow by 2% in 2014, although they will remain well below their 2007 peak in most countries. In 2013, the UK bucked a trend for falling sales across the European Union, helped by easy credit.
Nissan's global production also rose in December, although it made fewer cars in Japan. Total production was up 15% to almost 400,000 cars and vans compared to last year. In the UK, production declined, as the company reduced its output in readiness for the next version of the Qashqai. Nissan announced earlier this month that the workforce at its Sunderland plant will rise to 7,000 for the first time, as it takes on 500 new workers to begin rolling out the new Qashqai.
Nissan's new London black cab is also to be assembled in Coventry, the company said this week, with a petrol version produced from December and an electric version expected next year.
The vehicle will be shipped from Nissan's factory in Barcelona to ADV Manufacturing's plant in Coventry for final assembly, as part of a £6m joint investment by the two firms. Reported by guardian.co.uk 5 hours ago.
Nissan's sales have hit an all-time high after Chinese consumers rediscovered their taste for Japanese cars.
The Japanese company said it had sold almost 460,000 cars and vans in December, 15% more than last year and an all-time record. The boom was in large part down to Chinese consumers, who drove away the Nissan Teana saloon and Qashqai SUV in record numbers. Nissan's year-on-year sales in China for December were up 70% to 134,160.
The figures are a snapshot of the lucrative ties between the world's third and second largest economies, which are currently embroiled in a potentially explosive dispute over some small islands and uninhabited rocks in the South China Sea.
Production in China was also at a record high, with around 130,600 vehicles rolling off Nissan's assembly lines in the country.
In Europe, Nissan's December's monthly sales rose 8.8% to 56,000 cars and vans. This reflects the recent industry-wide upturn in car sales across the continent after many countries saw purchases fall off a cliff during the recession. Acea, the association of european carmakers, said on Tuesday that it expects European car sales to grow by 2% in 2014, although they will remain well below their 2007 peak in most countries. In 2013, the UK bucked a trend for falling sales across the European Union, helped by easy credit.
Nissan's global production also rose in December, although it made fewer cars in Japan. Total production was up 15% to almost 400,000 cars and vans compared to last year. In the UK, production declined, as the company reduced its output in readiness for the next version of the Qashqai. Nissan announced earlier this month that the workforce at its Sunderland plant will rise to 7,000 for the first time, as it takes on 500 new workers to begin rolling out the new Qashqai.
Nissan's new London black cab is also to be assembled in Coventry, the company said this week, with a petrol version produced from December and an electric version expected next year.
The vehicle will be shipped from Nissan's factory in Barcelona to ADV Manufacturing's plant in Coventry for final assembly, as part of a £6m joint investment by the two firms. Reported by guardian.co.uk 5 hours ago.