Nissan results for April 2001

Press Release

May 24, 2001

Tokyo - Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. reported today production, sales and export figures for April 2001 one week after announcing the record of a consolidated net profit of 331.1 billion yen for the fiscal year 2000. For April 2001, global production was down 4.4% while total unit sales for the three main regions of Japan, North America and Europe were slightly down 3.9%.

1. Production
Nissan's global production in April was down 4.4% from a year ago to 188,751.

Domestic production totaled 95,037, down 10.9% from a year ago due to decreased export mainly to the U.S. and Europe, while production for domestic sales remained stable.

Nissan's overseas production in April 2001 totaled 93,714 units, up 2.9% from April 2000.

Production in the U.S. fell 12.1% as the market continue to slow while the company continued efforts to reduce inventory levels. Mexican production grew by 22.7% due to strong demand of the Sentra for the North American markets. UK saw a drop of 6.8% in production while Spain achieved a 58.1% increase to meet strong sales of Almera Tino and 4WD vehicles in the market.

In other regions April 2001 production decreased 6.4%, however, Thailand saw production nearly triple (+280.1%) due to strong demand for pickup trucks and the Wingroad.


2. Sales
Nissan's domestic sales for April 2001 rose 1.2% to 46,368 units. Sales for new models of the Primera, Cima, X‑TRAIL and Bluebird Sylphy remained strong. Nissan's domestic market share was 17.0%, a 0.1 point decrease compared to last year.

Nissan's sales in the U.S. declined by 16.3% as the market continued to slow, down 10.0% from April 2000. In spite of strong sales of Q45 and stable sales of Maxima, Nissan faced competition particularly in the truck segment. Heavy incentives from the competitors also had an impact on Nissan's sales in the passenger car segment. Canada and Mexico saw sales increase of 18.2% and 19.7% respectively, both driven by strong demand for the Sentra.

Nissan's sales in Europe slightly increased by 0.5% with favorable sales of Almera Tino and 4WD vehicles.


3. Exports
Nissan's exports in April 2001 decreased 29.0% to 41,970 units due to market forecast of slowdown in the U.S., localization of production mainly in Europe and continuous global effort to tightly control inventory.


Nissan Results for April 2001

Global Production by Country

  Apr.
2001
Year-on-year
Change
Jan. 2001-
Apr. 2001
Year-on-year
Change
    Passenger Cars 81,686 -10.5% 379,952 -3.9%
Commercial Vehicles 13,351 -13.4% 55,044 -11.7%
Production in Japan 95,037 -10.9% 434,996 -4.9%
  U.S. 26,060 -12.1% 98,769 -22.0%
Mexico 25,129 +22.7% 108,329 +31.6%
U.K. 23,402 -6.8% 108,324 +2.9%
Spain 10,602 +58.1% 55,406 +60.5%
Others 8,521 -6.4% 35,093 -11.9%
Overseas Production 93,714 +2.9% 405,921 +4.4%
Global Production 188,751 -4.4% 840,917 -0.7%
*1 Others include production in Taiwan, Thailand, Philippines and South Africa, excluding CKD production.

Global Unit Sales by Main Market (Region)
  Apr.
2001
Year-on-year
Change
Jan. 2001-
Apr. 2001
Year-on-year
Change
  Passenger Cars 31,017 -3.4% 188,412 -4.5%
Commercial Vehicles 15,351 +12.2% 93,658 +15.2%
Japan 46,368 +1.2% 282,070 -1.2%
  U.S. 51,148 -16.3% 224,730 -7.3%
Canada 4,820 +18.2% 15,529 +19.8%
Mexico 12,824 +19.7% 61,734 +19.1%
North America 68,910 -9.3% 302,415 -1.7%
Europ 41,092 +0.5% 181,113 -4.2%
*2 Japan sales are based on registrations including vehicles manufactured overseas and excluding mini-cars.
*3 U.S. sales are based on retail including Hawaii.
DSR (daily selling rate)-adjusted year-on-year change in April is -16.3%.
Nissan Division: 46,526units
Infiniti Division: 4,622 units
*4 Canada and Mexico sales are based on retail.
*5 North America sales are based on retail including Guam, Saipan and other islands.
*6 Europe sales are based on retail in the whole Europe.

Vehicle Exports from Japan
  Apr.
2001
Year-on-year
Change
Jan. 2001-
Apr. 2001
Year-on-year
Change
  Passenger Cars 35,070 -32.0% 146,861 -13.7%
Commercial Vehicles 6,900 -8.9% 25,317 -14.7%
Total Exports from Japan 41,970 -29.0% 172,178 -13.8%

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