MEXICO - The Tsuru sedan that has sold 2.4 million units will end production with a special commemorative Edition.

• Popular Nissan small car sold more than two million units in Mexico since 1984

Nissan confirmed today the end of production of the Nissan Tsuru in Mexico by May 2017. The popular Tsuru, with more than 2.4 million sales to date, has provided accessible, economical and dependable mobility for drivers across Mexico and other markets for more than three decades.

Tsuru has been an important product for Nissan to establish itself as one of the top investors and employers in Mexico. 

The company expects to continue its Mexican sales and production leadership despite ceasing production of the iconic sedan.

 "In the Mexican automotive industry, Tsuru is one of the top sales leaders," said Mayra Gonzalez, president and general director, Nissan Mexicana. "The majority of Mexicans have some history that binds us to the Nissan Tsuru. The sedan, which has a huge following, has provided families in Mexico high-quality, reliable and durable transportation since 1984."

Nissan also announced today a special commemorative version of the Nissan Tsuru will be sold beginning March 2017, with only 1,000 units available. The company will also continue to support Tsuru customers by offering service and parts for the repair and maintenance of its vehicles for the foreseeable future. 

Nissan confirmed that although no direct substitute for the Tsuru is planned, the company will direct customers toward models like the Nissan Versa, the industry's sales leader, as well as other models like Tiida, through their different available versions.

J.D. Power awarded Nissan Tsuru the highest level of customer satisfaction in its 2013 and 2014 Mexican Vehicle Ownership Satisfaction Study (MVOSS) that evaluated customer satisfaction in the subcompact category.

Nissan Mexico's overall production volume will not be affected by the Tsuru announcement due to production increases at the company's two Aguascalientes plants, including the recently introduced Nissan Kicks.

Additionally, the new Daimler and the Renault-Nissan Alliance joint-venture manufacturing complex, COMPAS (Cooperation Manufacturing Plant Aguascalientes), will start production in late 2017. The COMPAS plant will allow Nissan to surpass the 1 million manufacturing benchmark in Mexico before the end of the decade and, when it's at full capacity, the company will add an additional 3,600 employees to its 15,000 team members in Mexico.

The Qashqai has beaten the Micra's build record, and will go on to become one of, if not the biggest production model ever.

Nissan has now built more Qashqais than any other car in its three decades of manufacturing in Europe.

Production of the award-winning crossover – at the Sunderland factory in the UK – has recently surpassed the previous highest single-name manufacturing total. That record was 2,368,704 units, previously held by another of Nissan’s European icons, the Micra supermini.

The Qashqai reached 2,368,705 units to overtake the Micra in less than 10 years. Nissan’s Sunderland plant continues to produce around 1,200 Qashqais every day, and by the end of February 2016 the total stood at 2,398,134 units. No other car in the history of the UK car industry has gone beyond 2m units in such a short period of time.

Colin Lawther, Nissan’s Senior Vice President for Manufacturing, Purchasing and Supply Chain Management in Europe, said: “The Qashqai created an entirely new segment when it was first launched and continues to set the standard in crossovers, supporting a record period of growth for Nissan in Europe.

“The Micra is an iconic model for Nissan in Europe, made for 18 years in our Sunderland plant. To overtake it in half the time shows just how quickly our European customers have taken Qashqai to their hearts.”

Styled and engineered for European customers in Nissan’s UK-based design and technical centres, the Qashqai is Nissan’s top-selling car in Europe. It’s also the best-selling crossover in Europe, requiring round-the-clock production since 2010.

Following a string of awards, demand for the Nissan Qashqai shows no sign of slowing down. In September 2015 the second-generation Qashqai became the fastest ever UK-built vehicle to smash the half-million production mark. Today, a new Qashqai is built every 62 seconds, or 58 per hour, at the Sunderland site.

The Nissan Qashqai will also become a pioneer of Autonomous Driving. At the Geneva Motor Show earlier this month, Nissan has announced that, from next year, the Qashqai will be Nissan’s first vehicle in Europe to feature ‘Piloted Drive’ technology. In the first instance, this will allow the car to drive autonomously and safely in a single lane in heavy traffic conditions on highways. Other developments will follow.

Lawther added: “Qashqai has propelled our Sunderland plant to become the biggest UK car plant of all time and taken Nissan sales in Europe to record levels. With autonomous technologies on the way from next year, Qashqai is helping Nissan raise the bar even higher for crossovers.”

Later in 2016, Nissan will be celebrating the 30^th anniversary of the Sunderland facility, which now manufactures the Qashqai and Juke crossovers, the all-electric LEAF, the Note hatchback and the new Infiniti Q30 premium compact car.

PRODUCTION TOTALS	(AT END OF FEBRUARY 2016)
Micra	2,337,292
Micra C+C	31,412
Total	2,368,704
Qashqai	1,482,214
Qashqai+2	270,018
New Qashqai	645,902
Total	2,398,134

Following 18 years of production in Sunderland from 1992-2010, the Nissan Micra is currently manufactured for Europe in India. Nissan has announced that production of an all-new Micra for European markets will take place at Renault’s factory in Flins, France.

General Motors worldwide sold over 2.4 million units in the first quarter of 2015.

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) sold 2.4 million vehicles globally in the first quarter of 2015, up 2 percent compared to a year ago. Sales in China increased 9 percent and deliveries in North America were up 6 percent. Opel/Vauxhall increased its sales by 3 percent in Europe.

“The momentum our brands are building in China, the U.S. and Western Europe more than offset difficult conditions in some other large markets like Russia and Brazil,” said GM CEO Mary Barra.

“We are in the early days of a very aggressive onslaught of new products and customer-driven innovation,” she said. 

“Already, the Chevrolet Trax and Colorado are redefining segments in the United States, Cadillac is growing rapidly in China and establishing a new formula for prestige sedans with the CT6 and Opel’s revitalization is accelerating across Europe. At the same time, we are deploying OnStar with 4G LTE in North America, Europe and China to give our customers the best connectivity experience in the industry.”

Other first quarter global sales highlights:

• Cadillac was up 2.5 percent, driven by a 23-percent increase in China.
• Opel/Vauxhall’s sales increase outpaced the European region’s growth by 0.2 percentage points.
• Buick was up 8 percent.
• GMC was up 15 percent, for its best first quarter sales since 2005.
• Chevrolet deliveries in the United States increased 5 percent on the strength of a 19 percent increase in crossover deliveries and a 31 percent increase in truck sales. Deliveries in China were up 7 percent.

In prior quarters, GM reported wholesale deliveries in China, which are vehicles sold to dealers. Beginning this quarter, GM is reporting deliveries to customers.