Nissan Sales Data & Trends for the European Automotive Market

Nissan sales and market share in Europe have grown steadily in the last decade, and it is one of the few mainstream automaker to have significantly increased both sales and market share during this period. The brand even came close to taking the title of best selling Japanese auto brand in 2015 as it came within 2.500 sales of Toyota, which sold almost double of Nissan’s volume as recent as 2009. Unfortunately, sales and share dipped again in 2016 before the brand hit a new European sales record in 2017, although it was outgrown again by Toyota.

These amazing accomplishment are mostly thanks to the incredible success of its crossovers. The Qashqai and Juke, both produced at the Sunderland factory in England, and the X-Trail. The Qashqai is the best selling model in the compact SUV segment with over 200.000 annual sales for 8 straight years. The Juke was introduced in 2010 and has sold over or close to 100.000 units a year since 2011. The new generation X-Trail was launched in 2015, and was able to set new annual volume records for the nameplate, and as a result more than 70% of the brand’s sales are crossovers. The X-Trail is the #4 best selling car worldwide and best selling crossover, thanks to successes in China and the US, where it’s called the Rogue.

The Leaf electric car had a slow start but sales have increased every year until 2017, before the second generation arrived in 2018, which will help the nameplate break new sales records again. The first generation Leaf was the first EV to surpass the 10.000 annual sales milestone but it lost its lead of the electric car segment to the Renault Zoe in 2015 but the new generation will be a challenger for the title again. There are also all-electric MPV and cargo versions, based on the NV200 but with the power train of the Leaf.

The Micra subcompact has enjoyed a successful redesign in 2017 with sales up to its highest volume since 2006 and quickly making us forget about the previous generation. The bland styling of that car, especially before the facelift in 2013, never caught on with consumers, as it has been designed for Asian markets where consumer tastes and preferences are different than in Europe. Being small-sized for the subcompact segment didn’t help either, but the new generation is based on the successful Renault Clio and should help the brand finally become a true player in Europe’s largest segment.

Other models have fared less successfully, as sales of the Pixo minicar were discontinued in 2014 and the Pulsar compact hatchback has also failed to gain traction in Europe. Nissan had predicted 64.000 annual sales for that model, but it didn’t come close, peaking at 43.000 in its first full year of sales and quickly fading after that. The Note small MPV was once the best selling small MPV in Europe but the segment has been shrinking fast and Nissan discontinued the Note in Europe. The new generations of the large crossovers Murano and Pathfinder also never made it to Europe.

Also find Nissan US sales figures and Nissan China sales figures. Sales figures for the Nissan Micra, Leaf, Juke, Qashqai, X-Trail, 370Z, GT-R, NV200 Evalia, Navara, Pixo, Cube, Almera, Tiida, Primera, Note, Tino, Terrano II, Pathfinder, Murano, Patrol, 350Z, Primastar.

Monthly Vehicle Sales

Annual Vehicle Sales

Annual Vehicle Sales Chart

Market Share Chart

Car sales statistics are from the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.

Sources: Manufacturers, ANDC, JATO Dynamics.