AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)04/21 Report--

On April 19th, Nissan said it decided to cut its operating profit forecast for the year by 14.5% due to lower-than-expected car sales and a number of other factors.

After adjustment, Nissan expects a full-year net profit of 370 billion yen (about 17.3 billion yuan) for the year ended March 31, 2024, down 20 billion yen from the previous forecast of 390 billion yen (about 18.3 billion yuan). Full-year operating profit fell from 620 billion yen (about 29 billion yuan) to 530 billion yen (24.8 billion yuan) Net sales for the year fell to 12.6 trillion yen (590.7 billion yuan) from 13 trillion yen (about 609.5 billion yuan).

Nissan said in a statement that it sold a total of 3.44 million cars this fiscal year, but raised its forecast to 3.55 million two months ago. Taken together, Nissan's profits and sales fell short of expectations in the last fiscal year.

On March 14, Nissan China announced a number of senior personnel appointments on its website, and the new appointments came into effect on April 1, 2024. Among them, Yamazaki Chuang-hei, senior vice president of Nissan Motor Company and chairman of the China Management Committee, will continue to hold his current position with the current terms of reference unchanged; Guan Kouxun, current regional president of Nissan Motor Company ASEAN, will be promoted to vice president of Nissan Motor Company and general manager of Dongfeng Nissan passenger car Company, and report to Yamasaki Zhuanghei. As for personnel changes, officials say the appointments are designed to support the implementation of the new fiscal year and the next medium-term plan, accelerate the implementation of Nissan's electric drive and marketing strategy, and achieve long-term sustainable development.

The following day, Nissan and Honda announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding to carry out comprehensive cooperation on the electric vehicle business, including joint procurement, joint development of power platforms, generalization of spare parts, and so on. Nissan and Honda hope to reduce costs through the integration of resources and enhance their competitiveness for electric vehicle products.

On March 25th, Nissan announced plans to increase sales of another 1 million vehicles by the end of fiscal year 2026, and will launch 30 new models by fiscal year 2026, of which 16 are electric vehicles and 14 are internal combustion engines. achieve cost parity for electric and fuel vehicles by 2030. In addition, Nissan said it planned to increase its operating margin to more than 6 per cent by the end of fiscal year 2026. "this plan will enable us to develop further and faster in terms of value and competitiveness," Nissan President and Chief Executive Officer Shigeru Uchida said in a statement. " At the same time, Uchida said: "in the face of extreme market volatility, Nissan will take decisive action under the new plan to ensure sustainable growth and profitability."

Industry insiders believe that the continued decline in sales and the poor performance of the electric car market may be one of the main drivers of Nissan's measures.

The latest data show that from January to March this year, Nissan's cumulative sales in China, including passenger vehicles and light commercial vehicles, reached 167291 vehicles, an increase of 3.29% compared with the same period last year. On the market performance in the first quarter of this year, Mr. Shohei Yamazaki, senior vice president of Nissan Motor Company, chairman of Nissan China Management Committee and president of Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd., said: "in the first quarter of 2024, the situation in the Chinese market is still complex." Nissan is having a hard time at the moment.

Sales in China come from Dongfeng Nissan passenger cars, which mainly operate three major brands: Nissan, Infiniti and Qichen. Among them, the Nissan brand is the main source of sales in Nissan China. Models for sale include Xuanyi, Teana, Qijun, Xiaoke, Tuda, Jinke, Loulan and so on. Xuanyi is the main product of Dongfeng Nissan. Retail data show that from January to March 2024, the sales of Xuanyi, Xiaoke and Teana were 79936, 26092 and 19111 respectively, followed by Qijun with 10102 and less than 6000 other models.

At present, the Chinese market has become one of the core markets of Nissan in the world, but judging from the current situation of Dongfeng Nissan, it is facing greater pressure. Nissan is considering cutting production by 30 per cent in China, while Nissan has an annual production capacity of about 1.6 million units in China, meaning it will cut production by about 500000 vehicles a year, the Nikkei News reported on March 12.

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