Nissan quarterly profit doubles on robust gain in North America

TOKYO – Surging sales helped rebounding Nissan Motor Co. more than double its profit in the latest quarter, driving the company to lift its full-year earnings forecasts.  

CEO Makoto Uchida said Japan’s No. 3 automaker is on the upswing thanks to robust business in North America offsetting tough conditions in China, where Japanese brands are suffering.

To better soak up unused production capacity in China, Nissan plans to introduce four electrified vehicles and, from 2025, export about 100,000 vehicles from the country, Uchida said at the company’s quarterly financial results announcement Thursday.

Uchida had planned to introduce a new midterm business plan this autumn, but the Nissan boss said the announcement has been delayed to better account for changing market conditions.

It will be unveiled sometime before the end of the fiscal year March 31, he said.

Nissan’s operating profit jumped to 208.1 billion yen ($1.39 billion) in the company’s fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30, from 91.7 billion yen ($614.4 million) a year earlier.

Net income increased tenfold to 190.7 billion yen ($1.28 billion), from 17.4 billion yen ($116.6 million) the year before.

Revenue advanced 25 percent to 3.15 trillion ($21.1 billion) in the three-month period, while global sales increased 11 percent to 833,000 vehicles in the quarter.

Deliveries in the U.S., Nissan’s biggest market, grew 41 percent to 217,000 vehicles, helping power Nissan through the July-September period. Sales shrank 21 percent in China to 197,000 vehicles, and deliveries in Europe increased 32 percent to 85,000 vehicles.

Looking ahead, Nissan lifted its earnings outlook for the current fiscal year ending March 31. It now predicts operating profit will jump 64 percent to 620 billion yen ($4.15 billion), while net income climbs 76 percent to 390 billion yen ($2.61 billion).

Still, Nissan kept its worldwide sales forecast unchanged at 3.7 million vehicles in the current fiscal year. That represents a 12 percent increase over the previous fiscal year. In August, Nissan cut its initial fiscal year sales goal from 4 million vehicles.

North America should set the pace with a 34 percent increase to 1.37 million vehicles. But Nissan forecasts that China deliveries will fall 23 percent to 800,000 for the fiscal year.