(July 17, 2015) ROLLE, Switzerland — Nissan this week announced record sales in the first six months of 2015. Nissan says this makes it the top-selling Asian brand in Europe. A total of 384,726 units were sold in the first six months of 2015, representing an increase of 4.3 percent versus this time last year.

New car registrations also jumped ahead in the first half of 2015 in a number of high volume markets including the UK (+34%), Spain (+18%) and Germany (+11%) where numbers were up versus Nissan's main competitor. Powered by consistently high sales volume of the Nissan Qashqai as well as the 100-percent electric Nissan Leaf, Nissan's market share in Europe now stands at 4.2 percent.

This success follows a record-breaking CY2014, a year in which Nissan Europe recorded the highest volume and market share in its history, with sales growing for five consecutive years. Growth looks set to continue into 2015. Only this month, Nissan's St Petersburg facility, home of the new X-Trail, celebrated the production of its 200,000th vehicle, making it the fastest growing plant in Russia. In Italy, passenger car sales increased by more than 23 percent in the first half of the year, with 32,611 units sold.

Nissan Europe senior vice president of Sales and Marketing, Guillaume Cartier, welcomed the news, commenting: "What we are doing with our brand, our products and our customer service promise is clearly working. We're delighted customers have continued to put their trust in Nissan to make us the number one selling Asian brand in Europe. We will continue to challenge ourselves to bring more to our customers — more choice, more value and more innovative and exciting products.

"These results really are proof of our commitment to quality, performance and bringing the latest technology to the most — first. This year we are proud to be celebrating the fifth birthday of the Nissan Leaf. With 184,000 units sold globally and over 93 percent customer satisfaction rate, the LEAF remains the best-selling electric car. We couldn't have achieved this remarkable success without the support of our employees, customers, dealers, partners and suppliers, so this really is a historic moment for everyone connected to the Nissan business."

Sales of the Nissan Qashqai also continue to break records with 2.5 million units sold. The UK, which is home to European production of the award-winning Qashqai, also had a strong year having sold 88,000 vehicles in the first six months of the year — securing the highest ever passenger car market share in the brand's history. This was mirrored in France, where Nissan recorded its best ever market share of 3.7 percent for the first six months of 2015.