The Qashqai has been made at the plant in Sunderland, England, since December 2006, occupying the production line previously occupied by the Nissan Primera on Line 1 and a percentage of Almera from line 2. Its launch coincided with the withdrawal of the Primera from the UK market due to low sales. This left Nissan with no direct successor to the Almera or Primera on the UK market, with the "supermini MPV" Note being sold as an indirect successor to the Almera, and the Qashqai as a successor to the Primera. This move was seen as controversial, but in time appears to have paid off as the Qashqai has proved a major sales success in the UK, with more than 39,000 sales in 2010 making it the tenth best selling new car in Britain – the first Nissan to make the top ten in Britain since the Sunny in 1983. In 2010 Nissan was considering whether to introduce the Nissan Tiida to Europe, it having already directly replaced the Almera in other markets. In 2012, the Qashqai's sixth year on sale in the UK, sales exceeded 45,000 to make it the sixth best selling car there that year.