Nissan’s global sales driven by strong momentum in crossover and SUV models

Nissan’s global crossover and SUV sales increased more than 12% in 2017 to more than 2 million vehicles, driven by the all-new Nissan Kicks small crossover, the Rogue, X-Trail and Qashqai compact models, a refreshed Armada full-size SUV and the INFINITI QX30 compact luxury crossover.

Nissan’s global crossover and SUV models increased nearly 13%, while INFINITI luxury crossovers and SUVs were up almost 9% in 2017. In total, Nissan increased global crossover and SUV volume by nearly 230,000 vehicles last year.

The Kicks benefited from its first full year of sales in Mexico, Latin America and China, reaching nearly 109,000 sales worldwide. The small crossover will launch this year in the U.S. and Canada and is expected to further accelerate Nissan’s crossover momentum.

“The improvement in our global crossover and SUV sales made a significant contribution to Nissan’s growth in 2017,” said Daniele Schillaci, executive vice president for Nissan. “We increased crossover and SUV sales by nearly 230,000 units last year and expect our momentum to accelerate in 2018 as we expand Kicks availability to the U.S. and Canada, execute the global launch of the new INFINITI QX50 luxury midsize crossover and start sales of the Datsun CROSS in Indonesia.”

The Nissan Rogue, X-Trail and Qashqai platform mates generated more than 1.38 million sales worldwide in 2017, an increase of 10%, and ranked as Nissan’s No. 1 platform by volume.

A refreshed Nissan Armada in the U.S. and continued strong sales of the Nissan Patrol in the Middle East helped sales of that platform increase 79% worldwide to nearly 80,000 vehicles, proving that full-size, body-on-frame SUVs are still in high demand by customers all over the world.

At INFINITI, sales of the QX30 compact luxury crossover increased 97% in 2017 to almost 32,000 vehicles during its first full year on sale. The QX80 full-size SUV continued to gain momentum with more than 21,000 sales worldwide.

Next month, INFINITI will launch the all-new QX50 midsize crossover. Built on a new platform with stunning interior and exterior design, and featuring an industry-first variable compression ratio engine, called VC-Turbo, as well as advanced semi-autonomous drive functions, the QX50 is in the sweet spot of one of the fastest growing segments in the world. Over the past five years, the premium midsize crossover segment has quadrupled in China and more than doubled in the U.S.

Overall, Nissan’s record crossover and SUV sales were led by a 94% improvement in Latin America and 16% improvements in both North America and China.