The big news was the launch of Nissan LEAF last October. Nissan and Renault hope to sell 1.5 million EVs by 2016. Under this optimistic plan, 500,000 EVs would be produced annually by 2015.
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. reported consolidated net revenues of ¥6.4 trillion, 19.4% higher than the year-ago level. Operating profit increased 96.1% to ¥448.9 billion for the first nine months of its fiscal year, the second largest automaker in Japan said in a statement.
Globally, the total industry volume in the first nine months was up 12.9% from the same period a year ago, with the largest increase in the world’s largest market- China, up 34.8%.
Year-to-date, Nissan’s global sales are up 20.5% from the prior year, to 3.018 million units. Nissan’s increase was not only from emerging markets such as China, but also from developed markets including the U.S., where the Altima is hot, and Europe.
As a result, net income rose to ¥288.4 billion, more than five times the nine-month revenue in fiscal 2009. Free cash flow for the auto business totaled a ¥212.5 billion. Automotive net cash was ¥42.9 billion.
Nissan, 44% owned by Renault SA, now expects net income of ¥315 billion ($3.8 billion) for the year ending March 31, compared to its previous guidance of ¥270 billion.
“Our results show that we are consistently moving forward in the right direction,” said Joji Tagawa, Corporate Vice President, Investor Relations.
For Q3, the three months 31 December 2010, Nissan’s net income rose 78% to ¥80.1 billion from ¥45 billion a year earlier.. Revenue rose 5% percent to ¥2.1 trillion yen while vehicle sales gained 14 percent to 1.01 million.
