Nissan profit down 54%

[DreamU]

They only made $595m this quarter; sales rose 7%. Ford would still kill for those numbers.

[proxim2020]

Hmmm, that's very interesting. I wonder if there's been price reductions across the fleet.

[Ever Victorious]

I have to wonder how much of that was just getting rid of last year's inventory. Some of our dealers here had 06 sentras and altimas on their lot until last month.

[TweeKeer]

it could also partly be because they are continuously researching and launching new vehicles and hte costs have to be incurred at some point. This year alone they released the new gen altima and sentra, the new versa and the frontier, pathfinder, titan and armada all got refreshers. Who knows?

[motoguy128]

I also think there's a lot of discounting to clear inventory. I think sales of the new Sentra have been slugish and they are discounting them as well.

I think if you look at each segment, where Nissan was once the inovator with fresh designs, they are now an also ran. This means lower prices to keep cars moving off the lot.

[Slither]

Toyota's doin well... look at e.g. the UK Yaris with turbo diesel. 60 mpg 0 - 60 mph in 10 secs and max of 108 mph. Wonder what Nissan's doing wrong with the NA Versa...

[TweeKeer]

Toyota's doin well... look at e.g. the UK Yaris with turbo diesel. 60 mpg 0 - 60 mph in 10 secs and max of 108 mph. Wonder what Nissan's doing wrong with the NA Versa...

??? Diesel vs gas? are you serious? english gallons vs canadian gallons? is a 10sec 0-60 time suppose to be amazing for a seriously tiny, light and unsafe vehicle like the yaris?

[Ever Victorious]

Diesel vs. gas may once again be a very active debate.

Carlos Ghosn has already stated he is far more interested in bringing diesel Nissans to the US than attepting to expand the hybrid lineup. Can't say I blame him, either. Given the prolific amount of diesels to choose from with Nissan/Renault's overseas products, vs. one single hybrid powertrain in the US, it would be far cheaper for both Nissan and their customers to have diesel be their viable "green" drivetrain.

Nissan already has the power plants, they just need to get them up to 08 emissions standards.

Perhaps they won't sell well in some parts of the country, but I know up here they will. After all, used TDI's actually sell for MORE than their original MSRP around here!

[TweeKeer]

Diesel vs. gas may once again be a very active debate.

Carlos Ghosn has already stated he is far more interested in bringing diesel Nissans to the US than attepting to expand the hybrid lineup. Can't say I blame him, either. Given the prolific amount of diesels to choose from with Nissan/Renault's overseas products, vs. one single hybrid powertrain in the US, it would be far cheaper for both Nissan and their customers to have diesel be their viable "green" drivetrain.

Nissan already has the power plants, they just need to get them up to 08 emissions standards.

Perhaps they won't sell well in some parts of the country, but I know up here they will. After all, used TDI's actually sell for MORE than their original MSRP around here!

I agree with the first part of your statement, about diesel instead of hybrids, seem to be the way Nissan is going. But it is also a Diesel and CVT thing.

As far as TDI's selling for more than new ones, I can't believe, because if that were the case then you'd be taking diesels from a lot of places and I know diesels are sitting on lots everywhere. But I do agree that TDI's seem to be selling/holding their value better than regular gas engine cars.

[jacksan1]

For 2006, the number of Nissan units sold on a global basis was -2.4% when compared to 2005. In the same year-to-year comparison, the U.S. market was down 4.0%. The European market was -0.2%. The Japanese domestic market was down a whopping 12.1%. There are a lot of analysis out there, but essentially, customers, especially in Japan, are getting bored with the Nissan lineup. They desperately need new models, which Ghosn has said will do just that, introducing 11 new models in 2007 on a global basis.

[Ever Victorious]

As far as TDI's selling for more than new ones, I can't believe, because if that were the case then you'd be taking diesels from a lot of places and I know diesels are sitting on lots everywhere. But I do agree that TDI's seem to be selling/holding their value better than regular gas engine cars.

This information was based on data I collected when I ended up buying my Versa. I was looking for cars with great fuel economy and good cargo space. Among those cars I was researching were used Golf TDI's and Passat TDI's.

I could not, at the time (July 2006), find a 1-year-old Golf TDI for less than $24,999 in my market. Passats were fetching $28k used... whereas their gas counterparts were only getting $18k and $22k respectively. I literally could have walked onto a VW lot and paid less for a brand new Jetta TDI than for said Golfs.

Any "green"-ish car gets stupid resale value around here. I just saw a couple 4-year-old Priuses going for $18,000. 5-year-old Civic hybrids going for $15,000. And that's only going to get worse around here, since our state's average gas price just hit $3.28/gal. We're actually giving California a run for their money for highest average gas price in the nation.

[TweeKeer]

This information was based on data I collected when I ended up buying my Versa. I was looking for cars with great fuel economy and good cargo space. Among those cars I was researching were used Golf TDI's and Passat TDI's.

I could not, at the time (July 2006), find a 1-year-old Golf TDI for less than $24,999 in my market. Passats were fetching $28k used... whereas their gas counterparts were only getting $18k and $22k respectively. I literally could have walked onto a VW lot and paid less for a brand new Jetta TDI than for said Golfs.

Any "green"-ish car gets stupid resale value around here. I just saw a couple 4-year-old Priuses going for $18,000. 5-year-old Civic hybrids going for $15,000. And that's only going to get worse around here, since our state's average gas price just hit $3.28/gal. We're actually giving California a run for their money for highest average gas price in the nation.

The reason for the TDI's being so expensive could be because they're not producing them in the 2007 model year. It's good to see that hybrids are actually being sold where you are. Here you could walk on to any lot and pick up a hybrid.

I think you'll see the TDI market fall back to normal once VW releases their '08 lineup of TDIs.