The debut of the new 60-registration plate has further boosted Nissan sales, giving the brand a highly successful September. Key to that success has been the continued demand for the innovative Qashqai. When standard and +2 body styles are combined, sales reached 5,641units for the month.

This means the Qashqai is now the fourth best-selling vehicle in the C-segment – ahead of both the Audi A3 and BMW 1-Series – and the nation’s 10th top-seller overall in 2010.

Nissan’s critically acclaimed compact crossover Juke is also proving popular with buyers looking for something different in the B-segment. It has sold 1,617 units during its debut week in September.

Sales of the current Micra remain strong. 4,902 of the iconic supermini found new homes during September, up 6% on the same period last year. Given that the Government Scrappage Scheme was in full flow last year and order books for the all New Micra open on 18 October, it’s an amazing performance.

All of the above sales successes have pushed Nissan up to fourth place for retail sales in September and the seventh most popular car brand overall. Taking performance over the last six months, Nissan is the UK’s number one Asian car brand.

Nissan’s UK MD, Paul Willcox commented: “September’s sales figures are a tribute to the professionalism and dedication of our dealer network. The fact that Qashqai continues to be a spectacular performer is no surprise – customers love its practicality and dynamic driving experience and it looks like Juke is heading the same way.”