Nissan announced European sales of 607,000 vehicles for the 2010 Financial Year ending March 31st – an increase of nearly 100,000 units against 2009.

This performance was supported by a strong end to the year. March sales reached 80,085 securing a year-high 4.0% of the market, Nissan’s best ever for March in Europe.

Nissan ended the financial year with 3.4% European market share – its highest annual share since 1994 and a 0.6% increase on 2009.

Key models included the Sunderland-built Qashqai crossover with nearly 250,000 sold in FY 2010, representing a 19% increase on 2009.

Juke, also produced in the UK, underlines Nissan’s dominance in the crossover segment with sales already reaching above 51,000 units since its launch last September. Including Murano, Nissan now accounts for more than a quarter of all sales within the European crossover segment.

Sales of the all-new Micra supermini are also encouraging with more than 23,000 units sold since its recent launch.

Nissan also made significant gains in the Commercial Vehicle segment in FY10 with sales increasing to 54,000 units (28.5% up on 2009) led by strong sales of the Barcelona-produced NV200 van and Navara.

Key markets last year included Russia, where Nissan is one of the top-selling foreign brands with 4.8% of overall demand (7.1% amongst foreign carmakers). Sales jumped 85% year-on-year to 102,000 units, establishing Russia as Nissan’s biggest European market.

The UK was Nissan’s second largest market with more than 101,000 sales, and France increased by over 12,000 units to just under 66,500.

Bernard Loire, vice president sales operations, Europe, commented: “The 2010 financial year has been incredibly successful for Nissan in Europe. Qashqai continues to be the stand-out performer, but the huge gains we have made this year are attributable to the breadth, and freshness of our entire model range.

“We have worked extremely hard to out-pace our competitors and establish Nissan as the number one Japanese brand in key markets including the UK, Russia and Spain, and we also achieved record market share in Italy.

“First and foremost this has been driven by a focus on bringing exciting and innovative products to the market, but also through the dedication of our dealer network, sales teams and the flexibility and professionalism of our logistics and manufacturing workforce.”

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