Nissan Qashqai Surpasses 1 Million Sales Milestone

Nissan's well-received Qashqai model has just passed the 1,000,000 sales mark after four years in production. The compact crossover model, which is also known as the Dualis in Japan and Australia and other markets, was designed and engineered in Britain. Introduced in 2007, Nissan expanded the crossover's range with the presentation of the seven-seater, long-wheelbase version called the Qashqai+2 in 2008, while the entire series received an update in March 2010 with a refreshed design and powertrain refinements.

The Qashqai is currently manufactured in Nissan's Sunderland factory in the UK, the Kyushu factory in Japan, and in Dongfeng Nissan’s Huadu Plant and Zhengzhou Nissan’s No. 2 Plant in China. Britain is by far the largest producer of the Qashqai, with more than 800,000 of the 1,000,000 being made in Sunderland.

As far as sales are concerned, Europe leads the way with a total of 759,370 units, 111,088 of which are from the UK, followed by Italy with 103,647 units.

"Qashqai is clearly the pioneer when it comes to ‘Compact Crossovers’, setting the trend that others in the industry follow," said Guillaume Masurel, Nissan's Global Chief Marketing Manager for Qashqai. "Its balance of key SUV attributes like robust design, roomy interior and higher driving position combined with the benefits of a hatchback such as great fuel economy, compactness and driving dynamics, resonates well with customers around the world."

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Nissan Celebrates Production of 1 Million Qashqai Crossovers, will Give Away the Landmark Vehicle

Four years, six months and 23 days after the first Qashqai small crossover rolled off the Sunderland Plant’s production line in the UK on December 5, 2006, Nissan has passed the 1 million milestone.

The Japanese automaker said the Qashqai is “easily the highest-volume car produced in the UK” adding that no other car in Britain has reached the one million mark in such a short period.

“The Nissan Qashqai has been a phenomenal success since its start of production just four and a half years ago,” said Kevin Fitzpatrick, Nissan Vice President for Manufacturing in the UK.

The company plans to put the landmark vehicle, a silver 2.0-litre diesel TEKNA Qashqai, on display at The O₂ Arena in London and then have one lucky person win the special car. Nissan said it will soon announce further details on the competition.

Currently, around 1,200 examples of the Qashqai are built every day at the plant, or about one every minute that the production line is open, with more than 80 percent of the vehicles destined for export to 97 markets across the world.

The Qashqai is the fourth best-selling model in the C-segment, which includes cars like the VW Golf, Renault Megane and Ford Focus, across Europe in the 2010 Fiscal Year. Its top five markets were the UK, Italy, Germany, Spain and France.

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Nissan to Design, Engineer and Build Next Qashqai in Britain

The second generation of Nissan’s big-selling in Europe Qashqai crossover will be designed, engineered and built in Britain, the Japanese automaker’s CEO Carols Ghosn announced today during a meeting with UK Prime Minister David Cameron. Nissan said it will spend £192 million (US$315 million or €215 million) for the new Qashqai, safeguarding 6,000 jobs, both direct and indirect through the UK supply chain.

Mr Ghosn said: “The UK has been a cornerstone of Nissan manufacturing since 1986, with the Sunderland plant setting important benchmarks for quality and efficiency in Europe and around the world. It's the home of the Qashqai, one of Nissan's biggest product successes.”

Prime Minister David Cameron welcomed Nissan’s decision to build and design the new Qashqai on UK soil. He said:

“This investment from Nissan is fantastic news and a great demonstration of the strength and vitality of the UK car industryThat future manufacturing and R&D has been secured is a tribute to the skill, expertise and hard work of Nissan’s UK workforce.

The styling of the new compact-sized crossover will be created at Nissan’s European Design Centre in Paddington, London, with the engineering to take place at the Nissan Technical Centre Europe in Cranfield, Bedfordshire. The completed car will be manufactured in the company’s Sunderland facility.

The current Qashqai was launched in 2006 and received a facelift in 2009. On average, Nissan’s Sunderland plant produces around 1,200 Qashqais per day with 83.6% of all parts sourced from one of 224 UK suppliers. The UK factory also assembles the Nissan Note mini-MPV and the Juke compact crossover.

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