Nissan's Sunderland has started production of its latest model, the seven-seater Qashqai+2. The model brings the total number of new model launches at Sunderland within the last five years to five. And earlier this year, Nissan's CEO and president, Carlos Ghosn, confirmed a new compact crossover car will be produced at Sunderland in 2010. European sales of the original Qashqai have now topped 235,000 since its launch in March 2007 and Nissan hopes to boost sales when the seven seat version goes on sale next month. In June, 850 new posts were created to support the introduction of a third production shift at Sunderland to help meet customer demand for the five-seat Qashqai, as well as expected demand for the new version. Together, Qashqai and Qashqai+2 represent £223 million of investment including design, research & development, vendor tooling and plant preparation.