With monthly overall customer demand down 3.8% compared to July 2011, Nissan maintained its market share above 3.9% supported by strong sales in Eastern markets where sales jumped 15.3% to 14,540 units.

Calendar year to date, Nissan has now sold 419,665 units in Europe which is 3.9% above 2011 despite the continuing depressed demand in some southern markets.

The stand-out performer in July was the Sunderland-built Juke compact Crossover which achieved sales 13.8% up on last year.   

The Note mini-MPV, also produced in the UK, and the Barcelona-built NV200 van also made positive contributions.

NV200 has now sold more than 100,000 units worldwide. Having already been selected as the next generation New York City ‘Taxi of Tomorrow’, the adaptable compact van received another boost recently after being unveiled as Nissan’s vision for the future London ‘black cab’.

In May it was announced that a 100% electric version, called e-NV200, will go into production in Barcelona within the 2013 fiscal year.

Nissan vice president for Sales Operations in Europe, Guillaume Cartier (Inset, Right), said: ‘Nissan enjoyed another robust month in July in Europe with the popularity of our models counteracting the generally difficult market conditions in some countries.

‘In the East we are continuing to attract more customers to the brand, and later this month we will unveil the all-new Nissan Almera sedan at the Moscow International Auto Salon.

‘This is a car developed specifically for the Russian market and will allow us to compete head-on in the rapidly growing mainstream volume segment in Russia for the first time,’ he concluded.