Nissan doubles down on developing markets as U.S. sales slow

Nissan Motor stated on Wednesday it expects automobile sales in some markets to beat industry development, driven by nations including Saudi Arabia – important for the Japanese automaker that is struggling with slowing sales in the United States.

Nissan, Japan’s second-largest automaker, concentrated on the United States for the last few years, and roughly doubled car sales there since 2010, as it intended to corner a 10 percent share of the market.

But that ambition came at a price: hefty discounting led to the company’s North American operating profit dropping by almost a third in the year just ended.

Nissan is now taking a look at China, the world’s biggest vehicle market, and other regions include Africa, Middle East and India, to increase growth while trying to improve profitability in North America.

Moreover, the company is moving into new markets including Pakistan and Turkey and plans to increase its affordable Datsun brand, Peyman Kargar, chairman of Nissan’s operations in Africa, Middle East and India, informed reporters at a briefing to discuss the company’s mid-term strategy.

“Today we have 3.7 percent market share (in the region). The industry sees a 40 percent rise in overall sales volumes, and we are going to be much above the market trend,” stated Kargar.

“We’re talking about big growth in the region,” he stated, refusing to provide detailed regional sales targets.