(May 1, 2017) YOKOHAMA, Japan — Nissan Motor Co.'s global sales and production rose to record levels in the April 2016 – March 2017 period, driven by the popularity of crossovers such as the Rogue and Qashqai and the success of models offering autonomous drive and connected car technologies.

Sales for the 12 months ended March 31, increased for a fourth consecutive year, gaining 4 percent to 5,642,381 vehicles. Production increased 9 percent to 5,695,774 units. Sales and output also set single-month records during the month of March.

"We are very proud of the strong customer response to our products in key markets that has allowed our sales and production to reach another record level," said executive vice president Daniele Schillaci, Nissan's global head of marketing and sales.

"Our crossovers performed particularly well, with the Rogue contributing to record sales in the U.S. and the Qashqai helping us achieve the same feat in both China and Europe. We look forward to building on this success by continuing to deliver high-quality products with exciting new technologies that meet the needs of our customers around the world."

In Japan, Nissan introduced the e-Power system to the Note compact car and began offering ProPILOT autonomous driving technology for the Serena minivan. This helped boost sales of those models by 30 percent and 50 percent, respectively.