The automotive conglomerate Nissan, with headquarters in Tokyo was established in 1933 and has built strong brands worldwide in the passenger car, forklifts, business sedan/vans and truck categories. Its principal operations include Nissan North America Incorporated, the head quarters for North American sales and manufacture of vehicle and auto parts which was set up in September 1960 in Tennessee, USA. Nissan Europe SAS, headquarter for European sales and manufacture was established in November 2002 in France.
Global retail sales volume showed a rising trend till FY 2007. Retail sales for the financial year 2007 were 3.77 million units, an increase of 8% over FY 2006. Net consolidated revenue for the FY 2007 was 10.824 trillion yen, up 11.6% in comparison to 2006. Consolidated operating profit at 90 billion yen was up by 4.7% vis-à-vis 2006.
Nissan has a consolidated employee strength of 180.535 as at 31st March 2008. Its paid in capital as at 31st March 2008 is 605.813 million Yen. In recent years, the group through its Nissan 180 and Nissan Value Up plan (2005-2007) has restored its profitability and built a solid foundation for the future.
In the fiscal year 2007, Nissan launched 11 all-new models worldwide including the GT-R supercar, Rogue and Infiniti G37 Coupe, Pino Minicar, Frontier Navara for the Thai market, Fuga-luxury sedan for the domestic market and Livina for the Chinese market.
However, the unforeseen and deep downturn in the world economy since the second half of 2008 and in addition, the negative impact of the strong yen, the sharp decline in consumer confidence in all major markets as well as a deteriorating product mix has presented businesses everywhere with a stiff challenge.
This is reflected in its latest results. Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., recently announced financial results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2008, ending March 31, 2009, as well as for the first nine months. In the third quarter, the consolidated net loss after tax came to 83.2 billion yen (US $0.81 billion, euro 0.55 billion), compared to net income of 132.2 billion yen (US $1.28 billion, euro 0.87 billion) from the same period a year ago.
Net revenue was down 34.4% to 1.8165 trillion yen (US $17.65 billion, euro 12.02 billion). Nissan's operating loss totaled 99.2 billion yen (US $0.96 billion, euro 0.66 billion). Ordinary loss amounted to 112.7 billion yen (US $1.1 billion, euro 0.75 billion). Nissan sold a total of 731,000 vehicles worldwide in the October-to-December 2008 period, down 18.6%.
In the April-to-December 2008 period, net income after tax totaled 43.2 billion yen (US $0.42 billion, euro 0.29 billion), down 87.5% compared with the previous year. Net revenue fell 14.7% to 6.6858 trillion yen (US $64.97 billion, euro 44.25 billion). Operating profit totaled 92.5 billion yen (US $0.9 billion, euro 0.61 billion), down 84.0%. Operating profit margin came to 1.4%. Ordinary profit amounted to 90.0 billion yen (US $0.87 billion, euro 0.6 billion), down 84.0%.
Globally, Nissan sold a total of 2,633,000 vehicles in the first nine months, down 3.0% compared with last year.
The company has also further revised its forecast for the full fiscal year 2008. In fiscal year 2008, Nissan will launch a total of eight all-new products globally. Four of these were introduced in the third quarter: NP200 in South Africa and KIX mini-SUV, Cube and Fairlady Z in Japan.
The new mid term growth plan, Nissan GT2012 which had been announced in May 2008 by President and CEO of Nissan Carlos Ghosn has also been suspended recently in view of the deepening economic gloom worldwide and altered business environment. In addition, Nissan has announced several steps intended to effectively counter the current adverse outlook and prepare the ground for a recovery and new business opportunities. They include a streamlining of business by rightsizing production, reducing labour costs, tight controls on inventory and revising manufacturing programs with partner Renault in India and Morocco. As per the latest announcement, Nissan will launch an average of 10 all-new vehicles per year in the 2009-2012 period, including the company's all-new, A-Platform entry-car lineup and a dedicated all-electric vehicle.
In recent years Nissan's growth had been led by excellent results in emerging markets like China and South America. Outside its domestic market, where Nissan currently controls 13.6% of the market share, China is the biggest market with 22% of market share. Its global growth strategy has led to an expansion of regional facilities and expansion in Greenfield projects worldwide. They include a new engine plant in the Huada district of Guangzhou in China, an auto export base in Bangkok, a new production facility in St Petersburg Russia and a new plant in Chennai India.
Through the current economic crisis, Nissan’s long standing commitments towards its customers stand. They include the developing of a safer, environmentally friendly car, becoming a market leader in the zero emission car segment and adopting a proactive approach while dealing with various global environmental issues. The company has made considerable investments in R&D, skills and production facilities over the years and will be ready to make good the business opportunities that will emerge as the global economy begins to recover.
