Nissan’s strong partnership with new authorized dealer Alissa Auto underpins the mutual ambitions to reach 100,000 units by 2016, resulting in a market share of 12 percent.

Since appointing Alissa last September, sales have soared to 25,000 units and 15,641 units in the first quarter of 2014, catapulting Nissan to third market position among the Kingdom’s top auto brands. The market share has climbed to 8 percent — up from 1.3 percent in the same period last year.

Nissan achieved record sales in the Middle East of 196,885 vehicles in the 2013 financial year, a 23.1 percent increase versus financial year 2012. This same record results registered March as the highest sales month in the company’s history reaching 28,900 units in the region.

In addition, overall market share grew from 8.9 percent to 10.3 percent over the 12-month period.

Nissan says it is confident of building on this success in the current financial year with a further jump in regional market share to 12 percent. Retail sales are projected to increase by 20.9 percent to around 237, 988 units.

Announcing the 2013 annual results, Nissan Middle East’s Managing Director Samir Cherfan said its soaring success was a result of Nissan Power 88 — an extensive global midterm plan that includes a commitment to significantly boost the product lineup and a drive to increase Nissan’s brand power and awareness.

“The momentum will be more than maintained — it will escalate over the next 12 months and beyond,” said Cherfan. “Our ever-expanding lineup will continue to mirror the creative best of Nissan. Success cannot be achieved without outstanding dealership partners and our network is truly exceptional. The Middle East is a pivotal market for Nissan and we are totally committed to it.”

Unsurprisingly, the Nissan Patrol also notched record numbers over the period with 25,168 units leaving the region’s showroom floors, a 53 percent hike on the 2012 financial year.

Najeeb Alissa, chairman, Alissa Auto, said: “What we are doing in cooperation with Nissan is changing the way people think of the auto industry in the Kingdom. This is reflected in the public’s purchase consideration growing by 28 percent, achieving the second brand position in the market. To capitalize on this, we are focusing on the sales network expansion, spare parts coverage and service coverage. Our priority is to make Nissan Parts and Services within the reach of all our customers in the Kingdom in the shortest time span.”

Alissa added: “The sales network expansion will be at 60 percent coverage in July 2014 and we will reach full coverage by March 2015. Our spare parts coverage will reach full coverage by July 2014, via 59 parts outlets. And our service coverage will be at 70 percent in July 2014 with full national coverage slated for March 2015. To mark this special day, we are today launching our innovative Mobile Service Van concept.”

The Patrol, dubbed the "King of the desert" and "Hero of all terrains in life," last year broke a Guinness World Record at Sharjah International Airport. Following a competition inviting members of the public to submit creative challenges for the Patrol, the Nissan superstar pulled a 170.9-ton cargo plane for more than 50 meters, breaking the previous record for "Heaviest aircraft pulled by any production vehicle’" by 15 tons.

“The Patrol is a powerhouse; it has achieved legendary status but it is just part of a tremendous lineup, including top sellers such as Sunny, Sentra, Altima, Pathfinder, Urvan, Nissan 370z, Nissan pickup and more,” Cherfan added.

“There is a great focus on fresh thinking that is being applied to every vehicle that appears in the showrooms and so many ‘sector-first’ state-of-the art technologies. Nissan is all about pushing the boundaries of design and innovation and this underscores and supports our latest sales successes,”Cherfan added.

“Nissan’s results for the last financial year have been exceptional. Our product lineup has never been as broad or as versatile and that clearly resonates with the motoring public in the Middle East.”

In the 2013 financial year, Nissan also announced a very ambitious plan for the Saudi market. This included the ambition to triple sales volume and market share, with an aim of reaching sales volumes of 100,000 units with a 12 percent market share by the 2016 financial year.

Nissan is committed to offering exceptional service in Saudi Arabia and has developed a strategy based on a direct local presence, strong product lineup, enhancing the brand and retail experience and top level quality customer service.

In the Financial Year 2013, Turkey was added as a new territory to Nissan Middle East and allowed Nissan to reach overall 217, 685 units total sales in the new territory definition.

About the results, Cherfan added: “These impressive results of the young partnership between Alissa Auto and Nissan are already proving a ‘game-changer’ in the Kingdom.” Cherfan explained the significance of the Renewing the Bond initiative, which is the foundation of the strong sales performance and the rapid expansion of Alissa’s sales and support infrastructure.