AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)03/06 Report--

On March 6th, Nissan China announced that it will sell KuaiBao in China. Data show that Nissan sold 59997 passenger vehicles and light commercial vehicles in China in February 2023, down 22.6 percent from the same period last year and an increase of 26.3 percent from the previous month.

Dongfeng Nissan is Nissan's main source of sales in China, with Dongfeng Nissan (including Nissan, Qichen and Infiniti brands) selling 56726 vehicles in February, down 10.9 per cent from a year earlier and up 24.3 per cent from a month earlier, according to data. Among them, Nissan brand sales were 50093, down 10.2% from the same period last year, up 23.5% from the previous year; Qichen brand sales were 6003, down 19% from the same period last year, up 30.3% from the previous year; and Zhengzhou's daily production and sales were 3271, down 5.38% from the same period last year and up 72.3% from the previous year.

From the analysis of the above sales data, Nissan's sales in China showed a trend of "year-on-year decline and month-on-month increase" in February 2023. "Automobile Industry concern" believes that the main reason may be affected by the Spring Festival holiday. Last year's Spring Festival holiday was in February, and this year's Spring Festival holiday is in January, so it is expected that Nissan's sales in China fell 22.6% year-on-year and increased by 26.3% month-on-month.

In fact, after the collective decline in the delivery volume of many car companies affected by the Spring Festival holiday in January, the delivery volume of a number of domestic car companies began to recover in February, among which new energy vehicle brands, except Xiaopeng Automobile and Zero Automobile, including ideal Automobile, Ulay Automobile, Nahan Automobile, Guangzhou Automobile Eian and ZEEKR, all increased significantly compared with the same period last year.

According to data released by Nissan China, Nissan's China passenger car sector (including Nissan, Qichen and Infiniti brands) sold 175021 vehicles from January to February in 2022, down 8.0% from a year earlier, compared with 102349 vehicles from January to February 2023, down 41.52% from a year earlier, but sales are gradually returning to normal with the improvement of external factors such as the epidemic, chip shortages and raw material prices. Mr. Shohei Yamazaki, senior vice president of Nissan, chairman of Nissan's China Management Committee and president of Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd., said: "after three years of difficulties and challenges, we are pleased to see the business performance of Nissan's major brands, business units and core models recover month by month."

After Nissan peaked in China in 2018, it fell into a year-on-year decline in the following years. According to the data, Nissan sold 1.564 million vehicles in China in 2018, up 2.9% from the same period last year. Nissan's sales in China began to decline in the following four years, with sales of 1.5469 million vehicles, 1.4567 million vehicles, 1.3815 million vehicles and 1.045 million vehicles respectively from 2019 to 2022, showing a downward trend year by year.

Dongfeng Nissan is currently the main source of sales of Nissan in China. Dongfeng Nissan passenger cars are composed of Nissan, Infiniti and Qichen, of which Nissan accounts for the bulk of Nissan's sales in China. the models on sale include Xuanyi, Teana, Qijun, Xiaoke, Bluebird, Tuda, Jinke, Loulan and other models, but the main selling models are only Xuanyi, Teana and Xiaoke. However, all three models declined to varying degrees in 2022, with Xuanyi down 18.0% and Xiaoke down 6.5%, while Teana missed the top five sales of B-class cars under the joint venture brand. In addition, the previously best-selling compact SUV Qijun has completely lost its sense of existence in the market segment.

In 2022, Dongfeng Nissan mainly launched two models: Teana and pure electric SUV ARIYA Aliya, but neither of them made waves in the car market. In the domestic market, Teana, Accord and Camry three models are often discussed and compared by consumers, also known as "Japanese three Musketeers". However, Teana has fallen significantly now, even after the medium-term modified models have been launched, it has not been able to reverse the backward situation. According to the data, the sales of Camry, Accord and Teana were 250800, 223200 and 147300 respectively in 2022.

As for the ARIYA "Aliya" model, sales also fell short of expectations. Dongfeng Nissan's new pure electric model, ARIYA, was officially launched on September 27th, 2021, with a total of four new models at a price range of 27.28-342800 yuan. From October to December in 2022, Ariya sold 456,387,362 ARIYA vehicles, respectively, compared with 67 in January 2023, according to CAF data, meaning that only 1272 cars have been sold in the four months since Ariya ARIYA went on sale.

It should be noted that, in fact, Nissan is a relatively early layout of electric cars. Back in 2010, Nissan unveiled its first battery electric momentum production car, the Leaf Leaf, which was popular around the world at the time, but failed to expand this first-mover advantage as competition for electric cars intensified, and has since adopted a "conservative" strategy to promote electrification, accounting for only 13% of Nissan's global sales by the third quarter of 2022.

At present, the electrified transformation of the domestic market is very fast, but Nissan is not moved. Nissan recently announced a cut in its forecast for electric vehicle sales in China. Nissan said it expected electric vehicle sales in China to account for 35 per cent of its total sales in China by fiscal year 2026, down from its previous forecast of 40 per cent. But Nissan stressed that it would accelerate the electrification process in Europe and Japan, where, in short, the Chinese market will be the slowest. Nissan COO said that the current Chinese market is mainly dominated by Chinese brands, so it has reduced the sales share of new energy vehicles in China, but the rescheduled Nissan will launch an electric SUV in 2024 to compete in the market.

After entering 2023, both Toyota and Honda, both Japanese car companies, have accelerated the layout electrification transformation. Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda will step down as Toyota Chief Executive Officer (CEO) from April 1 this year, and will be replaced by Toyota Chief Brand Officer and head of the Lexus brand, Haoji Sato, to accelerate the electrification transformation. In order to speed up the electrification process, Honda has also made a series of epic adjustments, including the merger of Honda Technology (China) Co., Ltd. (HMCT), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Honda China, with Honda production Technology (China) Co., Ltd. (EGCH). The current minister of Honda Inoue will step down on April 1, 2023, taking up the post of Honda Executive Officer and Minister of Electric Development.

At present, it is not easy for Nissan to live in China, unlike Honda and Toyota both have two joint ventures in China, and they are all supported by a number of blockbuster models, while Nissan has only three models: Xuan Yi, Xiaoke and Teana, and the mid-term modified Teana model has obviously lagged behind Accord and Camry. According to previous reports, the third generation of Dongfeng Nissan will go on sale in the second quarter of this year. The car is based on Nissan's CMF-C platform and is powered by a new 1.3T four-cylinder engine with a maximum power of 116kW, which is matched by an CVT gearbox. For Dongfeng Nissan, there is an urgent need to launch a popular model to boost its sales, but whether it can boost daily production and sales after its launch remains to be seen.

The declaration chart of the new generation of free passengers

With the rapid rise of independent brands and the rapid transformation of domestic electrification, the market share of joint venture brands has been gradually weakened, while for Japanese car companies with fuel vehicles as the main sales force, their insight into market changes is still very slow. At present, for Nissan and other Japanese brands, it is particularly important to stabilize the original fuel vehicle sales and launch new energy products that can support sales growth as soon as possible. According to the latest plan, Nissan will launch 23 electric models, including 15 EV models, to 27 electric models, including 19 EV models, by 2030, when the global share of Nissan brand and Infiniti electric models is expected to rise to more than 55%.

Mr. Shohei Yamazaki, senior vice president of Nissan Motor Company, chairman of Nissan China Management Committee and president of Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd., pointed out: "2023 is an extremely important year. Nissan China will continue to accelerate the development of electric drive strategy dominated by pure electric models and e-POWER technology, while continuously strengthening brand, product, service, operation and market competitiveness."

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