CEO Makoto Uchida said that the automaker has not yet decided on an export plan and has not chosen a target market for Chinese-made products, but it is possible that Russia could become one due to restrictions imposed by the Japanese authorities. But he said Nissan should consider new measures to bolster operations in China, where Nissan's sales fell 46 percent in the last quarter.
“Going forward, we will change how we conduct our operations in China,” he said.
International brands, including Nissan and other Japanese brands such as Mitsubishi and Toyota, are struggling in China, where they are lagging behind domestic competitors in meeting growing demand for electric vehicles. Mitsubishi suspended production in China amid falling sales, and Toyota took the rare step of laying off 1,000 workers there this month.
Uchida, announcing on Wednesday financial results for the first fiscal quarter ending June 30, cut Nissan's sales forecast for the entire fiscal year, citing a sharp decline in sales in the world's largest market. Nissan cut its China sales forecast to 800,000 units for the current fiscal year through March 31, 2024. This is less than the original target of 1.13 million and represents a 23 percent decline from last year.
To cope with the decline, Nissan will accelerate the introduction of so-called new energy vehicles. So, as early as July, the company will introduce the all-electric Nissan Ariya and V-Online plug-in from local brand Venucia.
If Nissan starts shipping cars from China, the Japanese automaker will join a growing group of international manufacturers using the country as a global export base. This trend helped China surpass Japan as the world's top auto exporting country in the first quarter of this year.
Uchida said Nissan is rapidly filling capacity at factories in the US, Mexico, Japan and the UK as semiconductor shortages is weakening. According to him, there is unsatisfied demand in these markets.
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