FRANKFURT-AM-MAIN, September 12 (RIA Novosti) - Nissan Motor Co., one of Japan's largest car manufacturers, has enjoyed high sales in Russia, selling some 75,500 cars there in 2006, the head of the company's Russian dealership said Wednesday.
"Before we received dealership status, instead of just a representation in 2004, Nissan sold 9,500 cars. Last year, our sales volume [in Russia] reached 75,500 cars, which I believe is a big success for the company," Toru Saito, the director general of Nissan Motor Rus, said in an interview with RIA Novosti at the International Auto Show in Frankfurt, Germany.
Speaking about the company's best-selling models in Russia, Saito said that first and foremost among them were the Almera Classic class C cars and the compact crossover Nissan Qashqai, which was released on the Russian market early this year.
Saito also reiterated that last September, Japan's Nissan signed a deal to open a plant near Russia's second-largest city, St. Petersburg, and that the company plans to start production in early 2009.
According to Monday's statement from the Automobile Manufacturers Committee with the Association of European Businesses in Russia, Nissan has already sold 72,437 cars in the first eight months of 2007, but the company occupies fifth place in terms of sales in Russia, behind Chevrolet, Ford, Toyota and Hyundai.
