Nissan Sunderland Gets A Kick

Nissan Sunderland in the UK was making 500,000 cars up to 2014, then it slipped slightly below that before falling away from 2018. It now sits slightly below the 300,000 mark. It was just the Qashqai and Juke in 2025 and the Leaf is back in 2026. Still, the Leaf isn't of the volume of the other two, so the factory isn't running at optimal production levels.

To address that, the Kicks e-POWER small SUV will commence production there in 2027, aslthough I'm unsure when will exactly kick off. It makes sense to fully utilise a factory and this will help in that regard. 

Nissan and Chery are in early discussions about Chery also producing there, but that is still up in the air. I assume the plant is versatile enough to cope. It certainly has the total capacity. It's nice to see the plant alive and kicking. 

Mexico Passenger Car Sales: 2026 (Jan-Aug)

Registrations were up 2% in August and 5% YTD. Nissan maintained its long standing leadership here with 17% of the total market. Chevrolet likewise is a popular brand with 12.0% share. 

In 2026, imported Chinese cars had tariffs increased from 20% to 50%. China called the move protectionist and seeing as they have various duties to limit imports, they should know.  

Some importers are not reporting. BYD, GAC and Tesla haven't been, although none of those are stellar performers in Mexico anyway. Chirey (Chery), Jaecoo and Omoda pulled out after reporting last year. 

Chirey's has had a sales slump as it sorts out spare parts availability, delays in repairs, and problems with customer service quality. To limit negative press, they are holding back data until those issues are sorted. 

Data source: AMDA. Photos: Nissan Sentra & Chevrolet Tracker. 

Cyprus Private Car Sales : 2026 (Jan-Aug)

This covers new cars sold to private citizens only. The main exclusion is for rental cars. Kia is the leading brand, with Toyota retaining second place and Nissan pushing up into third. BYD is on a mission and is now fourth. There aren't many Chinese brands here yet either, MG another one. BAIC has just arrived and more from China will follow. 

Data source: Cystat.