AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)05/09 Report--

On May 8, Nissan China announced its April 2024 sales figures. Nissan sold 54921 vehicles in China in April 2024, down 10.43 per cent from a year earlier, according to data. Of this total, Dongfeng Nissan (including Nissan, Qichen and Infiniti brands) sold 52018 vehicles, down 9.60 per cent from a year earlier, while sales in the light commercial vehicle sector (Zhengzhou Nissan) fell 22.96 per cent to 2903.

From January to April 2024, Nissan's cumulative sales in China, including passenger vehicles and light commercial vehicles, were 222212, down 0.48 per cent from the same period last year.

In terms of sales data, Nissan's sales in China have declined to varying degrees, either in a single month or in the previous four months. As for the sales performance in the previous April, Mr. Shohei Yamazaki, chairman of Nissan's China Management Committee and president of Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd., said that in the first four months of this year, the situation in the Chinese market was still complex.

Nissan is having a hard time at the moment. Nissan's sales in China mainly come from Dongfeng Nissan passenger cars, including Nissan, Infiniti and Qichen brands. among them, the Nissan brand is the main source of sales in Nissan China. Models for sale include Xuanyi, Teana, Qijun, Xiaoke, Tuda, Teenite, Loulan and so on. 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.

As for Infiniti and Qichen, the sense of existence of the two major brands in the car market is not high. Infiniti is a luxury brand owned by Nissan, which belongs to Toyota's Lexus and Honda's Acura, but Infiniti is having a hard time. Retail data show that Infiniti sold 439 vehicles from January to March this year, while Infiniti QX60, the highest seller, accumulated only 303 vehicles.

Qichen brand is an independent brand of Dongfeng Nissan joint venture, launched in September 2010, February 2017, Qichen brand announced its independence, and then established Dongfeng Qichen Automobile Co., Ltd. Dongfeng Qichen Motor Company (that is, Dongfeng Qichen). Retail data show that from January to March this year, Qichen brand cumulative sales of 9669 vehicles, the highest sales of Qichen D60 EV, 2569 vehicles, Qichen V DD-i super hybrid, Qichen V, Qichen VX6 followed by sales of 2515, 2437, 1436, respectively, other models are no more than 500s, the performance in the car market is also dismal.

In short, Nissan's current sales in China can only rely on the Nissan brand. As for the decline in Nissan's sales in China, the industry believes that it has a lot to do with its slow electrification transformation. So far, Nissan has only launched Ariya, a pure tram in China, which is regarded as a landmark product of Nissan's electrification transformation and plays an important role in Nissan's electrification. But in the highly competitive pure electric market, ARIYA Aliya has no advantage in the car market, so sales have not been hot. Retail data show that Ariel sold only 610 vehicles from January to March this year, with an average monthly sales of 176, 120 and 314 respectively.

Judging from the sales results, Nissan's market performance is difficult to describe as desired. Of course, poor daily production and sales are only a microcosm of Japanese car companies. According to statistics, since 2020, the market share of Japanese brands has declined year by year, and the market share from 2020 to 2023 is 24.1%, 22.6%, 20% and 17%, respectively.

On April 19th, Nissan said it had decided to cut its operating profit forecast for the year by 14.5% due to lower-than-expected car sales and various cost reductions and other factors such as inflation. 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).

At present, the Chinese market has become one of the core markets of Nissan in the world, and fuel vehicles are still the tone of its overall sales, but under the background of the shrinking traditional fuel vehicle market and the rising overall sales of domestic new energy vehicles, Nissan China will not take a turn for the better if it does not accelerate the electrification transformation.

Nissan announced on March 25th that it would launch 30 new models by fiscal year 2026, including 16 electric vehicles and 14 internal combustion engines, which will achieve cost parity between electric and fuel vehicles by 2030. At the 2024 Beijing Auto Show not long ago, Nissan also pointed out that 73% of Nissan-branded products in China will be replaced by fiscal year 2026, and eight new energy vehicle (NEV) models will be launched, including five Nissan-branded models. It remains to be seen whether Nissan China can change lanes to counterattack after more new cars are on the market.

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