OREANDA-NEWS. Nissan will start the production of its best-selling European - crossover Qashqai at a plant in St. Petersburg. As it was noted, the transfer of production of Nissan Qashqai from English Sunderland to St. Petersburg (for sales in the Russian market) is the next step for the implementation of  strategy of Nissan in Russia, designed for further localization of its model range in this market. This move will help the company to strengthen its proposal for crossovers and SUVs at the expense of local production. In the Nissan plant in St. Petersburg there are produced now X-Trail, Pathfinder, Murano and Qashqai.

Qashqai, the production of which will start at the Nissan plant in St. Petersburg, was adapted to the conditions of the Russian operation. In particular, it has been seriously modified the suspension and noise isolation of the vehicle.

"Despite the difficult economic situation, the Russian market remains the strategic for the company Nissan, which continues to strengthen its position in the country. Today, the Russian production has more than 70% of cars that are sold in the country, and with the launch of Qashqai in our assembly line, this figure will exceed 90%,"- said General Director of Nissan plant in St. Petersburg, Dmitry Mikhailov.

Body panels for Qashqai will be stamped in his own stamping plant shop, which was launched in August of 2015, and their welding will take place in the new body shop with 21 robots, launched in the framework of the expansion of the plant in December of 2014. Body painting of Nissan Qashqai will be implemented in the new robotic spray booth, launched in December of 2014.