Nissan says it sold more cars than Toyota and Hyundai in the first half of this year in Europe, becoming the best-selling Asian brand on the continent. The Japanese automaker sold 384,726 vehicles sold in the first six months of 2015, up 4.3 percent compared to the first half of 2014.
The record sales were due to strong demand for the Nissan Qashqai and the Leaf EV, which helped drive the brand’s market share in Europe to 4.2 percent. Nissan new car registrations saw significant increases in markets like the UK (88,000 units, +34 percent), Spain (+18 percent) and Germany (+11 percent), where numbers were up compared to Toyota.
In the UK, where Nissan’s European manufacturing base is located, the Japanese brand secured the highest ever passenger car market share in its history. Nissan also recorded its best ever market share in France (3.7 percent for the first six months of 2015). In Italy, Nissan passenger car sales increased by more than 23 percent in the first half of the year, with 32,611 units sold.
“We’re delighted customers have continued to put their trust in Nissan to make us the number one selling Asian brand in Europe. We will continue to challenge ourselves to bring more to our customers – more choice, more value and more innovative and exciting products,” said Nissan Europe Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Guillaume Cartier.
Nissan expects growth to continue into 2015. The company’s St Petersburg facility in Russia, where the new X-Trail is built, celebrated the production of its 200,000th vehicle, making it the fastest growing plant in the country.
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