Nissan will start production of a 2.0-litre diesel version of its Qashqai SUV at its Sunderland factory this week.

The new dCi engine, which was co developed with Renault, produces 150hp and Nissan says it returns 42.8mpg and CO2 emissions of 174g/km when fitted with manual transmission and in 2WD configuration. Customers can also choose to specify a six-speed automatic transmission.

Nissan expects over 25% of all Qashqais sold to be equipped with the new diesel engine, making it the most popular engine choice among buyers.

The consumption and emissions figures for the other transmission configurations are as follows: 40.9mpg and 184g/km for the manual 4WD version and 36.2mpg and 208 g/km for the automatic 4WD version.

At the end of April 700 Qashqais will roll out of Nissan’s manufacturing plant in Sunderland every day to satisfy demand for the vehicle across the world.