Key facts
- Nissan cut its full-year sales forecast to between 2.97 million and 3 million cars from 3.15 million.
- Nissan said its China sales fell 22% in the first half and 32% in the first nine months of the year.
- Chief executive Ivan Espinosa said China demand is weaker and the shift to new energy vehicles is faster than expected.
- Nissan said it will cut petrol car output in China and raise production of electric and plug-in hybrid models.
- Espinosa said Nissan hopes its Sunderland and Japan-built cars are included in proposed EU "Made in Europe" rules.
Nissan said it would cut back petrol car manufacturing in China and raise output of battery electric and plug-in hybrid models, after being caught out by faster-than-expected demand for electric and hybrid cars in the world's largest automotive market. The Japanese carmaker cut its full-year sales forecast to between 2.97 million and 3 million cars from 3.15 million, mainly because of China.
"China remains our biggest challenge," chief executive Ivan Espinosa said. "Demand is weaker, competition is intensifying, and the shift to new energy vehicles is happening faster than expected." Nissan said sales across China fell 22% in the first half of the year and were down 32% in the first nine months, with pressure intensifying from July through October.
Espinosa said Nissan's China lineup, led by the Sylphy family of saloon cars, was too heavily weighted toward petrol engines. The company is cutting local production, exporting some products and trying to ramp up its N series of models, which are electric or plug-in hybrids. Nissan reported higher sales in its home market and North America, where the shift to electric cars has been slower.
In Europe, Nissan has lobbied to weaken the UK's zero-emission vehicle mandate and to keep selling petrol cars after 2035. Espinosa said he was hopeful Nissan's products from its Sunderland plant and Japan would be included in proposed EU "Made in Europe" rules, which as drafted would exclude all of Nissan's cars from subsidies and other incentives in the EU.