Simply put, Nissan was less affected by natural disasters in Japan and Thailand last year, and its near death experience at the end of the last century saw the movement of production away from Japan before the currency became troublesome.
Nissan Motor Company posted financial results for the 12-month Japanese fiscal year ending 31 March 2012, that saw net revenues of ¥9.4 trillion yen ($118.95 billion), an operating profit of ¥ 45.8 billion yen ($6.9 billion) and a net income of ¥341.4 billion yen or $4.32 billion. As a result Nissan will contribute €230 million for first quarter 2012 to Renault’s earnings as part of the Alliance.
In what Nissan calls fiscal year 2011, global sales reached a record of 4.845 million units as demand for its vehicles outperformed the total auto industry. Unit sales of Nissan vehicles rose 15.8% from last year’s 4.185 million units, while total industry volumes increased 4.2% from 72.6 million units in fiscal 2010 to 75.7 million. Nissan’s share of the global market rose 0.6 points to 6.4%.
The Nissan results with a net of $4.32 billion was in sharp contrast to Toyota Motor Corporation’s F.Y. net profit decline to ¥283.56 billion or $3.6 billion, a -31% decrease. Nissan also out performed Honda Motor whose net profit declined slightly at ¥211.4 ($2.627 billion) for a -3.5% drop.
Simply put, Nissan was less affected by natural disasters in Japan and Thailand last year, and its near death experience at the end of the last century saw the movement of production away from Japan, something that all Japanese automakers are now attempting because of a strong Yen of roughly ¥80:$1.
The company released five new models globally in 2011: the Tiida in China, the Lafesta Highway Star in Japan, front-drive and rear-drive versions of the NV400 commercial van in Europe and the Infiniti JX in the United States.
In global markets, the company reported significant growth. Unit sales in China, Nissan’s largest single market worldwide, rose 21.9% to 1,247,000 vehicles. In the United States, sales were up 11.8% to 1,080,000 units. Across Europe including Russia, sales were 713,000 units, up 17.5%. In Japan, sales increased by 9.2% to 655,000 units. Other markets totaled 826,000 units, up 16.4%.
The Nissan global sales forecast for fiscal year 2012 is 5.35 million units, an increase of 10.4% and another record year. Nissan will launch 10 all-new products globally including the Altima, Pathfinder, Sylphy/Sentra, NV350 Caravan and a long wheelbase version of the Infiniti M hybrid sedan.
On 11 May 2012, Nissan filed the following forecast with the Tokyo Stock Exchange, based on foreign exchange rates of ¥82/dollar and ¥105/euro, for the fiscal year ending 31 March 2013:
- Net revenues of ¥10.3 trillion ($125.61 billion, €98.10 billion);
- Operating profit of ¥700 billion ($8.54 billion, €6.67 billion);
- Ordinary profit of ¥680 billion ($8.29 billion, €6.48 billion); and
- Net income of ¥400 billion or $4.88 billion, €3.81 billion.
