After a decade of unprecedented customer demand, Nissan has announced its intention to increase Qashqai capacity and further enhance the car’s position as the best-selling crossover in Europe.

The company cannot keep up with demand for the vehicle, despite record volumes of 300,000 a year being produced on Line 1 at the company’s Sunderland plant.

Despite round-the-clock production and a build rate of one car every minute, Nissan engineers are preparing to increase supply to European customers by spending £22 million modifying Line 2 at Sunderland to undertake additional Qashqai production.

The first extra vehicles are scheduled for production before the end of 2016, ahead of the next phase in Qashqai’s development in 2017, when it will becomes the first Nissan vehicle in Europe to feature autonomous ‘Piloted Drive’ technology.

Colin Lawther — Nissan’s senior vice-president for manufacturing, purchasing and supply chain management in Europe — said: “When the first Qashqai came off the line in 2006, it created the crossover segment, and it remains the benchmark for European customers.

“Through innovative engineering and productivity improvements, my colleagues in Sunderland have broken production records to keep pace with demand, but our new-generation Qashqai has reached a tipping point. This additional capacity will give us free supply of Qashqai for the first time, ahead of the launch of a refreshed Qashqai next year.”

The Qashqai recently became the highest-volume model in the history of Nissan’s European manufacturing operations — a position previously held by the Micra super-mini.

Nissan’s Sunderland plant continues to produce around 1,200 Qashqais every day, and by the end of February the total stood at 2,398,134 units. Globally, Qashqai is also manufactured in Nissan’s plants in St Petersburg (Russia) and in the Huadu Plant of Dongfeng Nissan in China.