Nissan Car Sales Fall on China Car Sale Slump

“TOKYO (AP) — Nissan Motor Co. suffered a 35 percent plunge in October-December profit to 54.1 billion yen ($579 million) as global sales languished, especially in China, where anti-Japanese sentiment flared over a territorial dispute.

Quarterly sales dipped 5.3 percent from a year earlier to 2.2 trillion yen ($23.5 billion), Yokohama-based Nissan said Friday. Nissan’s earnings fell short of the 61 billion yen ($652 million) profit forecast by a FactSet survey of analysts.

All the Japanese automakers have reported sales declines in China, where a territorial dispute set off anti-Japanese riots and boycotts in the last months of 2012. A slowdown in Europe added to Nissan’s woes. Nissan also struggled in the key U.S. market, which was booming for rival Toyota Motor Corp.

Corporate Vice President Joji Tagawa acknowledged Nissan’s performance had not reached its targets, but promised a recovery.

China sales in January showed some recovery and Nissan was also planning new models in the U.S., he told reporters.

Nissan’s sales were strong in other parts of the world, including Brazil, the Middle East and Asia excluding China as well as Japan.

Nissan, based in the port city of Yokohama, stuck to its forecasts for a 320 billion yen ($3.4 billion) profit on 9.82 trillion yen ($105 billion) sales in the fiscal year ending March, despite the solid perk it is getting from a weaker yen….”

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