Figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders confirm that the home-grown Qashqai – which was designed in Paddington, engineered in Cranfield and is built in Sunderland – was the nation’s best-selling car of the last 12 months.
A total of 42,704 new Qashqais were driven off dealership forecourts across the UK in 2022 and the figure for December alone stood at an impressive 3,506, reported the SMMT.
To celebrate the achievement, an exclusive gold-wrapped Qashqai was created in honour of Nissan’s employees and dealer partners from around the UK that have contributed to its success.
Andrew Humberstone, managing director of Nissan Motor (GB) Ltd, said: "This is a landmark moment for a landmark car and it's great to see how the latest generation Qashqai has struck a chord with car buyers here in the UK.
"We're absolutely thrilled to see this car's increasing success over the last 16 years, and it's a fitting tribute to the skills and talents of Nissan's excellent design, engineering, production and sales teams all around the UK."
Three generations of Qashqai have been on sale in the UK since it was first launched in 2007, all of which have regularly appeared among individual month's best-seller lists, however this is the first time it's been the year's best-selling car overall, and the first time a Nissan has topped the annual sales charts.
Built at Nissan's Sunderland plant, Qashqai is at the heart of a manufacturing operation that is fast becoming a blueprint for future UK automotive production. Nissan's recently announced EV36Zero plan combines electric vehicles, renewable energy and battery production and will create a sustainable EV manufacturing hub in the north-east of England, supporting thousands of jobs at the plant and its supply chain, and supporting Nissan's journey to carbon neutrality by 2050.
Laura O'Neill, Sales Manager at Arbury, Nissan in Bromsgrove, said: "The Nissan Qashqai has always been fundamental to the success of Arbury and Nissan. It is a class-leading SUV and we saw huge demand for Qashqai last year from our existing customers and new customers entering the brand for the first time. Nissan also put some really strong promotions behind the car, along with being able to provide consistent supply. With the car being built in Sunderland, it meant that the supply of the vehicle was consistent, and they arrived promptly at our dealership after they were built. This gave us a competitive advantage compared to some of our competitors that were quoting longer lead times as a result of their cars being built across Europe. We sold 188 Qashqais in 2022 – hopefully, we’ll see that number continue to increase in 2023 and the Qashqai can retain its crown as the best-selling car in the UK!"