STAFF at Nissan Sunderland Plant are today celebrating the production of their one millionth Nissan Qashqai.

The landmark vehicle was driven off the production line four years, six months and 23 days after production began on December 5, 2006. No other UK-built car has reached the million mark in such a short space of time.

The silver 2.0-litre diesel TEKNA Qashqai will now go on display at The O2 Arena in London and one lucky person will win the special car.

President and Chief Executive Officer of Nissan, Carlos Ghosn, announced during a meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron two weeks ago that the next version of the Qashqai will be designed, engineered and built in the UK.

This will take the total Nissan investment in the UK for Qashqai past £422m.

Future Qashqai production will safeguard the jobs of 6,000 people at Nissan and in the UK supply chain.

Kevin Fitzpatrick, Nissan Vice President for Manufacturing in the UK, said: “The Nissan Qashqai has been a phenomenal success since its start of production just four-and-a-half years ago. Qashqai was a real crossover pioneer and producing one million in such a short space of time is a fantastic achievement, not just by staff at the Sunderland Plant, but also by the designers and engineers who developed such a popular car and our dealer network who have helped to generate such high demand.”

UK Business Minister Mark Prisk said: "The Qashqai is a success story for both Nissan and the UK.

"With the millionth car coming off the production line, the Sunderland, Cranfield and Paddington workforce should take great pride in its popularity.

"It’s great news that they will be able to build on their success with the recent announcement that the UK has been chosen to design, engineer and build the new Qashqai model."