Nissan Europe sees market drop, sticks to 08 goal

PARIS (Reuters) - Nissan Motor Co's (7201.T) European unit on Thursday kept its 2008 sales target in spite of tough trading and forecast that the overall European market would fall by around 10 percent in the second half of the year.

Nissan Europe's target of over 700,000 vehicles sold in the full year, is "challenging, but still achievable," Francois Goupil de Bouille, Nissan's VP for Sales in Europe said on a conference call.

Nissan said its European August sales rose 0.8 percent to 36,869 units in a "tough economic situation." Nissan Europe has sold a total of 430,834 units in Europe, including Russia, since January, a 20 percent increase compared with the previous year.

For Nissan Europe, Russia -- which is forecast to become Europe's biggest car market - accounted for around two thirds of growth in the year to date versus the previous year, Goupil de Bouille said.

Sales in Russia were up 27 percent year-on-year to 13,737 units in August.

Goupil de Bouille added he expected overall European unit sales across manufacturers to fall by around 10 percent in the second half of the year against the first, due to the worsening economic environment.

The UK will see a 20-25 percent dip, Germany will see a drop of 15 percent, Italy a decline of 15-20 percent and France of around 7-10 percent, he predicted.

He said the "very good performance" of its Qashqai model was continuing and added that the 4x4 market was "facing some headwinds," including rising fuel prices.

(Reporting by Helen Massy-Beresford; Editing by Erica Billingham)