NISSAN-INFINITI: Q3 sales dip 2.2% in aftermath of Hurricane Helene

Hurricane Helene dampened Nissan sales in the third quarter.

The automaker's U.S. sales dipped 2.2 percent to 212,068, though they're up 0.6 percent year to date.

Nissan Division sold 197,528 vehicles in the third quarter, down 1.4 percent from a year earlier. Infiniti's volume dropped 12 percent to 14,540 vehicles.

Hurricane Helene, which slammed the Southeast, hurt Nissan hard.

"The Southeast is by far our strongest region," said Judy Wheeler, Nissan Division vice president of sales and regional operations in the U.S.

The effect on sales was protracted because dealerships shut down a day or so before the storm hit their region and didn't reopen until it had passed.

East Tennessee and Asheville, N.C., "are being told they are not going to get power back until up to a week from now," Wheeler said.

A lack of a hybrid option continues to drag sales of Nissan's best seller, the Rogue crossover. Rogue deliveries tumbled 24 percent in the third quarter and 10 percent for the year.

"Twenty-nine percent of that segment is now in hybrid," Wheeler said. "We don't play in that space, but we will in the future."

But the executive said Rogue is competitive, delivering "great fuel economy" and "incredible features."

Wheeler said that while dealers would like to see more incentive spending on the Rogue, it's not likely to happen.

"We're going to be very careful about how much money we spend on any one of our vehicles," she said. "You're not going to see us spend more than what we've already deployed into the marketplace on that vehicle."

On the bright side, sales of Nissan's least expensive nameplate, the Versa, surged 68 percent in the third quarter.

A recent Nissan marketing campaign to promote the brand's six models priced under $30,000 helped lift Versa volume, as did improved supply of the Mexico-built car.

"We were more consistent on our availability," Wheeler said.

Brands: Nissan, down 1.4 %; Infiniti, down 12%

Notable nameplates: Nissan Frontier, up 22%; Ariya, up 23%; Rogue, down 24%; Versa up 68%; Sentra, up 9.8%; Altima, down 8.5%; Infiniti QX60, down 8.1%; QX50, up 12%; QX80, down 13%

Quote: "This is going to be our new norm, and we're going to accept that until we get a hybrid in the marketplace," Judy Wheeler, Nissan Division U.S. vice president of sales and regional operations, on sliding Rogue sales

Did you know? Dealers are successfully pitching the electric Nissan Ariya to returning Murano and Rogue customers.