Nissan UK Production By Model : 1986-2014

The North East of England is an economically challenged region. With the shipyards having closed the area needed an injection of employment as the region was suffering in that regard. The UK government encouraged Nissan to build there and a large skilled workforce without employment was also a bonus. In the time the plant has been running, there has not been any time lost through industrial disputes. The placement of the plant has been good for both Nissan and the region.

The first Bluebird off the production line at NMUK in 1986

By 1986 the first cars were rolling off the production line but the first two years local content was low so they are not generally counted as UK production. I have added them to the chart below but the figures are not included in any of the totals at the bottom. The model was the Bluebird initially but was soon replaced by the Primera in 1990.

Over the years the plant has had additional investment to expand and become a four model plant. Extra shifts are put on when high demand is experienced, the plant at times three shifts. It is regarded as one of the most efficient car making facilities in Europe.

The Almera was a popular car in Europe

The chart is self explanatory, but a couple of features to note: Green shading on model production data represents the biggest for that year. Under the 'Total' column, Shading changes for each 100,000 mark passed.

Year	Qashqai	Juke	Note	Leaf	Micra	Almera	Primera	Total
1986	-	-	-	-	-	-	5,139	5,139
1987	-	-	-	-	-	-	28,797	28,797
1988	-	-	-	-	-	-	56,744	56,744
1989	-	-	-	-	-	-	76,991	76,991
1990	-	-	-	-	-	-	76,367	76,367
1991	-	-	-	-	-	-	124,666	124,666
1992	-	-	-	-	37,176	-	141,833	179,009
1993	-	-	-	-	152,722	-	93,559	246,281
1994	-	-	-	-	131,063	-	73,881	204,944
1995	-	-	-	-	125,564	-	89,782	215,346
1996	-	-	-	-	136,504	-	95,123	231,627
1997	-	-	-	-	148,430	-	123,236	271,666
1998	-	-	-	-	159,340	-	129,478	288,818
1999	-	-	-	-	157,143	-	114,014	271,157
2000	-	-	-	-	122,560	115,336	89,805	327,701
2001	-	-	-	-	116,653	121,797	58,030	296,480
2002	-	-	-	-	103,197	97,005	97,131	297,333
2003	-	-	-	-	190,690	86,491	54,743	331,924
2004	-	-	-	-	172,794	93,355	53,503	319,652
2005	-	-	231	-	168,958	97,562	48,546	315,297
2006	3,799	-	106,903	-	129,858	30,788	29,863	301,211
2007	164,191	-	92,679	-	88,532	-	8,316	353,718
2008	224,989	-	77,819	-	83,747	-	-	386,555
2009	198,841	-	50,880	-	88,429	-	-	338,150
2010	271,188	44,622	52,872	-	54,580	-	-	423,262
2011	301,277	132,606	46,602	-	-	-	-	480,485
2012	310,837	154,759	44,844	92	-	-	-	510,532
2013	286,477	147,954	58,901	8,424	-	-	-	501,756
2014	285,110	132,646	65,143	17,339	-	-	-	500,238
Total	2046709	612,587	596,874	25,855	2367940	642,334	1,635,611	7927910
Avg	255,839	142,462	66,319	12,928	131,552	101,958	86,085	293,626

Soon two Infiniti models will be added, the first time in decades a new brand has commenced production in the UK. It's nice to see a factory not only be so well run but give a region a much needed financial boost. Nissan is what BL once was, a UK designer and producer of cars. 

It would be only right that Nissan was at the top of sales in the UK, and it is certainly progressing in that regard. What is getting it success in Britain is more the quality and desirability of what is made there. Will any other car maker ever again do what Nissan did and use the UK as a car manufacturing centre? It has certainly worked for Nissan. 

The Note is an important part of Sunderland production

New Zealand Car Sales By Brand : 1995-99

The Ford Falcon was the best selling car in 1999

New Zealand new car sales were subdued during this period while used imports flourished. The economic reforms stalled somewhat due to external forces and that kept things muted. This was a time that the assembly industry ended. Ford and Mazda stopped it's operation in 1997, joined in 1998 by Mazda, Mitsubishi, Honda, Nissan and Toyota.

Was it good that NZ lost it's assembly industry? Well it was only ever from CKD kits and not real manufacturing so it wasn't cost effective. It could therefore only survive with protection and the government was removing that. It was only a matter of time.

Japanese brands seemed to consolidate their position even more, with only Ford and Holden offering much resistance. MG Rover and Land Rover were doing well and if combined exceeded the thousand mark. A few of the larger brands also did well in this time such as GM Holden, Nissan, Hyundai , Daewoo and Suzuki. In 1999, the top selling models were the Ford Falcon (4,311), Holden Commodore (3,511) and the Toyota Corolla (3,475).

	Make	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
	Toyota	13,411	11,742	9,825	8,126	8,932
	Ford	13,237	10,852	8,991	8,151	8,897
	GM	7,656	7,148	5,740	6,181	6,282
	Nissan	5,520	5,549	5,598	5,222	6,071
	Mitsubishi	6,745	6,133	5,478	5,370	5,889
	Hyundai	1,489	3,197	3,956	3,302	3,631
	Honda	6,298	7,261	7,076	4,491	3,038
	Daewoo	203	1,097	885	1,689	1,819
	Suzuki	1,099	1,177	1,153	1,558	1,806
	Subaru	1,532	1,131	917	1,366	1,684
	Mazda	2,785	2,489	2,210	1,944	1,625
	Daihatsu	588	593	987	1,298	1,128
	BMW	962	910	797	740	893
	Kia		120	277	241	687
	Mercedes	357	323	395	440	653
	VW	312	355	249	350	641
	Peugeot	884	684	612	597	593
	MG Rover	212	506	559	524	562
	Land Rover	234	436	320	457	521
	Chrysler	12	604	745	419	520
	Audi	415	475	440	341	448
	Volvo	123	140	167	150	313
	Renault	48	130	84	85	252
	Citroen	303	184	151	270	199
	Alfa Romeo	113	219	128	137	189
	Jaguar	138	88	107	85	171
	Saab	241	199	93	123	145
	Fiat	414	376	250	169	136
	Lexus	65	45	120	95	117
	Others	284	251	248	233	262
	Total	65,680	64,414	58,558	54,154	58,104
	Used Imports	80,976	111,769	97,041	99,937	131,118

Picture Source: Wiki/Jonathan Rabbitt.
Date source: MIA.

1990-94 can be accessed here.
2000-04 is found by clicking here.