Eight years after the Nissan Almera left Europe, the automaker is planning a return to the C-segment hatch market in October, with the overall goal of 5 percent overall European market share by the end of FY 2016 in mind.
Automotive News Europe reports the compact hatchback will bow at the 2014 Paris Auto Show prior to going on sale soon after, and will be built in Nissan’s Barcelona, Spain factory, where capacity has been boosted to 80,000 units annually with the aid of a $178 million investment.
As for the Qashqai, which took over for the Almera in Europe upon the latter’s departure to great success, Nissan Europe boss Trevor Mann believes the compact won’t ding sales of the second-gen compact crossover:
In any segmentation you get that cannibalization. We think Qashqai sales will stay level. That car has defied what’s normal. The original annual sales target was 130,000 units. In the first year we made 160,000 units and since then we’ve been making 300,000 units.
Currently, Nissan holds around 4 percent of overall European market share. With the compact hatch leading the way, the automaker aims to own 5 percent by the end of FY 2016 in late March 2017.
Is the new Tiida not a compact hatch?
Is the C segment considered “compact” in Europe? I have had the impression that it’s more mid-sized.
It does look a big large to be considered compact. But maybe that’s because so many cars there fit into the sub-compact class.