Nissan sales outstrip market in bumper start to the year
Nissan’s year has got off to a storming start, with sales of cars and light commercial vehicles during the first three months of 2008 up 36 per cent. Car sales alone tell an even more impressive story, with strong performances from Qashqai and Note contributing to a total of 23,542 units sold, an incredible 46 per cent increase and by far the greatest improvement among volume sales manufacturers. March car sales up 55 per cent at 16,673 units
YTD car sales up 46 per cent at 23,542
YTD combined car/lcv sales up 36 per cent at 27,669
Qashqai, Note, X-Trail and Micra put in outstanding performances
Navara retains top spot in Pickup market
European sales up 42 per cent year on year
The results are reflected in Nissan’s 3.4 per cent share of the car market compared to last year’s 2.3 per cent – all the more impressive given the overall 0.7 per cent decline in the market so far this year.
Nissan’s success story was even more pronounced during the key March sales month, which saw car volumes increase by 55 per cent compared to last year: 16,673 passenger car sales translated into a 3.7 per cent share, up from 2.4 per cent, in a market that saw just a 0.5 per cent increase.
The segment-defining, multi-award winning Qashqai, Nissan’s innovative compact crossover, has been a huge success with over 25,000 units sold since launching in the UK last year. To the end of March, it has chalked up 6,538 sales so far this year, representing 28 per cent of Nissan’s car volume – but even when Qashqai is taken out of the equation, car sales were still up 30.6 per cent, thanks to strong contributions from Note, X-Trail and Micra.
The all-new X-Trail has proved a resounding success among the car-buying public, with sales up 17 per cent so far this year at 2,075 units.
The overall pattern is reflected in both the retail and fleet sectors where YTD sales are almost identical, up 45 per cent and 46 per cent respectively. Note has been particularly popular in the fleet market, with sales up by over 2,800 this year, but Nissan’s core fleet market performance has been strong generally, with an increase of nearly 80 per cent, driven not only by the introduction of Qashqai, but also Micra and X-Trail.
“Customer response to Qashqai has been outstanding, vindicating our bold approach to pushing styling boundaries,” says Paul Willcox, Nissan’s managing director. “It has clearly tapped into a strong desire for a distinctive crossover design with SUV overtones that blends a raised driving position, generous interior space and enjoyable driving characteristics. That’s borne out by the fact that three-quarters of customers are new to the brand.
“Yet Qashqai is only part of the story behind our success and with the rest of the range also performing strongly, customers are recognising the diversity, interesting appeal and strength in depth of the Nissan range.”
Meanwhile, in the Pickup market, the Navara continues to be the number one best seller, continuing its strong performance of 2007 in what is a very competitive marketplace.
Success in both the retail and fleet sectors saw it outstrip all rivals to capture a 28.9 per cent market share. Sales are very much dominated by higher end models with around half accounted for by the top of the range Aventura, clearly underlining Navara’s premium positioning within the sector.
“Customers have voted with their wallets and recognised the Navara for the outstanding Pickup it is,” comments Paul Willcox. “We always knew its combination of qualities held huge potential, a view endorsed by several press awards, and now it has assumed the position it rightly deserves and firmly established itself as top dog in the segment.”
Europe: the wider picture
The UK sales story mirrors a wider trend across Europe, where Nissan recorded March sales of 80,236 units, an increase of 42% year on year. There have been some spectacular increases, with France registering an 82 per cent rise at 6,301 units, while Eastern Europe continued its momentum of growth in a month where Russia sold 15,983 units, up 89% (the second largest European market after the UK), and the Ukraine 2,322 units with an increase of 191%.
With sales consistently ahead of the previous year over the past 12 months, 184,384 units have been sold in Europe in the first three months of the year.
The B and C segments performed particularly well in March. Qashqai sales have been increasing month on month and March was no exception with 23,218 units sold. Note sales were up 48% at 13,637 units and Micra up 32 per cent at 12,508 vehicles. X-Trail is also proving popular, with X-Trail sales at 6,867 up 55%.
Simon Thomas, senior vice president sales & marketing and Western Europe sales operations commented, “This strong performance demonstrates Nissan’s ambitious strategy of sustainable growth in Europe. The success of Qashqai and the growth of sales in Russia have been instrumental in achieving such results, both in the context of a very competitive market.”
