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A few days ago, Nissan announced its results for the first quarter of fiscal 2024 (April-June). The consolidated net revenue for the current quarter was 2.998 trillion yen, up 80.7% from the same period last year. The consolidated operating profit was about 1 billion yen, down 127.6% from the same period last year. The operating profit margin was 0%, down 4.4% from the same period last year; and net profit was about 28.6 billion yen, down 76.9% from the same period last year. In terms of sales, Nissan sold 787000 vehicles worldwide in the first quarter of 2024, down 0.2% from a year earlier, without a significant drop.

In terms of market segments, North America was the worst. Nissan made an operating loss of-20.9 billion yen in North America in the first quarter of 2024, compared with an operating profit of 132 billion yen in the same period. However, Nissan sold 323000 vehicles in North America in the first quarter of 2024, down 1.7 per cent from a year earlier, including 237000 in the US, down 3.1 per cent from a year earlier.

In the context of no sharp decline in sales, there has been a sharp drop in profits, mainly because of product structure problems. In the North American market, selling SUV and pickups is the profit cow, while Nissan sold the best cars in the first quarter, up 18.7% from a year earlier to 93000, while SUV and pickup sales fell 13.4% to 128000. In addition, competition in the North American market is also intensifying, and Nissan does not have many products with good competitive performance compared with its competitors, most of which can only be exchanged for quantity by price, resulting in no significant decline in sales. But there is an operating loss.

Nissan, the world's largest car market, is also having a hard time in China, with second-quarter sales up 3.3 per cent to 167000 vehicles from a year earlier, but production fell 17.0 per cent to 169000 vehicles. The brand with the highest inventory in May was Dongfeng Nissan, which can sell for 2.53 months, according to the China Automobile Circulation Association. High inventories mean automakers have to cut production. In June, the China Automobile Circulation Association did not announce specific inventory depth brands, but due to the spread of pessimism among dealers, in order to ensure the safety of the capital chain and strictly control inventory levels, coupled with the fact that some car companies have entered high-temperature holidays, dealers have achieved remarkable results in going to warehouses. Returning to a reasonable range, Dongfeng Nissan's inventory depth is expected to weaken somewhat.

In fact, in the current Chinese auto market, Nissan brand cars are not very competitive. In the first quarter of 2024, the highest-selling model of the Nissan brand in China is still Xuanyi, with cumulative sales of 81400 vehicles, followed by Xiaoke and Teana, with 27300 and 19300 respectively. In March this year, Dongfeng Nissan launched Land Exploration, the first medium-and large-scale SUV owned by Dongfeng Nissan, which sells for 21.28-274800 yuan. It sold a total of 4005 vehicles in the first fiscal quarter. In addition, in the context of the major car companies have to speed up the electrified layout, Nissan's competitiveness in the field of new energy vehicles has not been significantly improved. At present, only Ariya is on sale, with cumulative sales of only 1072 vehicles in the first quarter.

In terms of sales structure, the North American market accounts for 41% of the global market share, of which the United States accounts for 30%, which is Nissan's largest single market in the world, while the Chinese market accounts for 21%, the Japanese market accounts for 12%, and the European market accounts for 10%. Other markets account for 16%. For Nissan, the core market is still the North American market, especially the US market, because it is the main source of Nissan's global sales and the most profitable market for Nissan, but Toyota and Honda are also doing well in the North American market. Mazda and Subaru also basically live on the North American market, and how to restore profitability in the North American market is the biggest issue for Nissan at present.

Of course, the Chinese market is also very important, but it is the largest market for new energy vehicles in the world, and Nissan is indeed a strong competitive new energy product in Chinese mainland. Under the background of accelerating the market share of traditional fuel car brands by independent brands and speeding up the research and development of electrified and intelligent technology, Nissan's share in China will only be slowly eroded. How to enhance the competitiveness of products in the Chinese market? It is also a problem for Nissan to stay in the Chinese market.

Nissan said it would launch a range of new models in the second quarter, including INFINITI QX80, Nissan Kicks, Armada and Murano in the US and e-POWER variants of Qashqai, X-Trail and Juke in Europe. The launch of these new models is expected to help Nissan increase sales and market share. Nissan said it expected full-year net sales to reach 14 trillion yen (previously expected to be 13.6 trillion yen), with global car sales of 3.65 million vehicles (compared with 3.7 million previously expected) and production of 3.45 million vehicles.

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