Nissan Mexicana celebrated the beginning of exports of the Tiida to Europe. The ceremony took place in the port of Veracruz, next to the ship, Olympian Highway, that is taking a shipment of 600 Tiidas to Europe. 

The ceremony was presided over by Mr. Shoichi Miyatani, President and General Director of Nissan, and was attended, as witnesses of honor, by the governors of the states of Veracruz and Morelos, Fidel Herrera and Marco Adame, respectively; and by Mr. Hiroshi Yoshioka, President of Nissan’s shipping subsidiary, Nissan Motor Car Carrier, as well as by other special guests. They all watched the loading of the units, that left in this vessel for the old continent. During 2007, the first year of exports, some 12,000 Tiida units will be sent to Europe.

On March 26th, Nissan Europe announced the presentation of the Tiida model for the European market, saying that sales would begin in June 2007. The Tiida model is the latest addition to Nissan’s present line of models in that continent, following the recent launch of the Qashqai crossover. 

Nissan carefully analized the different European markets in order to identify the countries where there was a concentration of customers loyal to Nissan who might consider purchasing a similar model in the future. Once these had been determined, the Civac plant was designated as the center for the manufacture of this model.

Tiida, in the sedan and hatchback versions, and with gasoline and diesel engines, will be distributed in the following markets: the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania), Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, The Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Malta, Poland, Rumania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia and the Ukraine.

The Tiida has been on sale in Japan and the United States of America (where it is marketed under the name of Versa) for a few months and it has been very well received. It is hoped that sales in Europe will reach an average of 30,000 units a year during its lifespan.

Nissan Mexicana has a solid track record for exports. In 1972 it began sending vehicles to other countries. This year 412 units were shipped to the Dominican Republic, Suriname, Chile, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras. Through February 2007, the historic figure for exports stood at 1’793,695 units to 55 final destinations. In 2006 266,320 units were exported (of those, 208,828 were Mexican-built) to 27 countries.

Apart from the Tiida, Nissan’s export record shows outstanding volumes of the Sentra (manufactured exclusively in Aguascalientes), the Tsubame (the first Mexican vehicle to be exported to Japan) and the D21 compact pick up.

“With the start of exports of the Tiida to Europe, we reaffirm our commitment to the corporation and once again demonstrate the importance of our company in the global operations field”, commented Mr. Shoichi Miyatani, President and General Director of Nissan Mexicana Nissan Mexicana. “The Tiida will be sold in the highly competitive European market, a factor that makes it necessary for all of us at Nissan Mexicana to multiply our efforts to supply our worlwide customers with vehicles of the highest quality".