News & Resources

Nissan Sunderland achieves 2m Qashqai production milestone

3 Nov 2014

  • Two million Qashqai production achieved in record time
  • Designed, engineered and made in the UK, supporting more than 11,000 jobs

The UK’s current most-produced car, the Nissan Qashqai, has reached the two million mark for production.

Built at the firm’s Sunderland plant, the Qashqai has achieved the feat within eight years – quicker than any other model in the history of the UK car industry.

Nissan has invested £534 million in the design, development and production of Qashqai in the UK, supporting more than 11,000 jobs in the UK car industry. Of the two million Qashqais made in Sunderland since December 2006, 85% (1,706,633) have been exported to 132 international markets, from the Congo to Qatar.

UK Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the Rt Hon Dr Vince Cable MP, said, “Nissan is one of the driving forces behind the UK’s world-renowned automotive industry. They currently employ more than 11,000 people across the UK and have invested more than £500m in the innovation, design and production of this car, directly supporting the local and national economies. The UK automotive industry is thriving. Last year, we increased our production to more than 1.5 million cars in the UK – that’s a car rolling off the production line every 20 seconds.

“Through the UK government’s industrial strategy we are backing the automotive sector as it goes from strength to strength. We are providing the right environment to give businesses the confidence to invest and create high-skilled jobs.”

Qashqai is made alongside the all-electric LEAF on Line 1 at Nissan Sunderland Plant, which has been on round-the-clock, three-shift production since 2010 in order to meet customer demand, with a car currently rolling off the production line every 62 seconds, or 58 per hour.

Fundamental to the Qashqai’s development were Nissan’s European Design Centre in Paddington and European Technical Centre in Cranfield, Bedfordshire. The popularity of Qashqai has also helped Nissan to reach record market share in the UK, with sales and marketing operations based in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire. More than 11,500 people are employed in total at these sites and in UK dealerships, supporting a further 26,000 jobs in the UK supply chain.

Total global production of the Qashqai now tops 2.5 million, with the first generation Qashqai also made by Nissan in China and Japan. From 2015 the new Qashqai will also be manufactured in Nissan’s plant in St. Petersburg for domestic sales in Russia.

The Qashqai is now closing in on the Micra as the highest volume car in the history of Nissan Sunderland Plant, with 2,368,704 Micras made in Sunderland over an 18-year period from 1992 to 2010.

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