Sunderland-made Qashqai becomes Nissan’s highest volume car

Auto manufacturer Nissan has built more Qashqais than any of its other cars in the three decades since it first launched its European manufacturing operations.

Production of the crossover vehicle recently surpassed 2,368,704 units, the record previously held by Nissan’s Micra supermini car.

At the end of February this year, 2,398,134 units had been manufactured in less than 10 years. According to Nissan the figure is a UK first, with no other model of car from any other manufacturer passing the 2m mark in under a decade.

Nissan’s European senior vice president for manufacturing, purchasing and supply chain management, Colin Lawther, commented: “The Qashqai created an entirely new segment when it was first launched and continues to set the standard in crossovers, supporting a record period of growth for Nissan in Europe.

“The Micra is an iconic model for Nissan in Europe, made for 18 years in our Sunderland plant.”

He added: “To overtake it in half the time shows just how quickly our European customers have taken Qashqai to their hearts.”

Every day, Nissan’s plant in Sunderland churns out around 1,200 Qashqais, which is the equivalent of one every 62 seconds, or 58 per hour.

Speaking further, Colin said: “Qashqai has propelled our Sunderland plant to become the biggest UK car plant of all time and taken Nissan sales in Europe to record levels.

“With autonomous technologies on the way from next year, Qashqai is helping Nissan raise the bar even higher for crossovers.”

The Sunderland Nissan plant, which celebrates its 30th anniversary later this year, manufactures the Qashqai, Juke, LEAF, Note and Infiniti Q30 vehicles.

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