Nissan Motor boosted net income 4.7% to JPY482.3bn (US$4.22bn, EUR2.98bn) for the fiscal year ending 31 March, 2008.

 

Net revenues rose 3.4% to JPY10.824 trillion (US$94.62bn, EUR66.98bn) and operating profit was up 1.8% to JPY790.8bn yen (US$6.91bn, EUR4.89bn). Operating profit margin was 7.3%

 

Full year sales worldwide rose 8.2% to a record 3,770,000.

 

In North America, sales rose 1.3% to 1,352,000 units; United States sales were up 3% at 1,059,000 units.

 

Japan sales fell 2.5% to 721,000 units but European volume was up 17.9% to 636,000 units. Sales in the rest of the world were up 22.1% to 1,061,000 units, passing the 1m mark for the first time.

 

"In a challenging and volatile environment, Nissan demonstrated that it has reached the maturity to deliver a high level of performance," said Nissan president and CEO Carlos Ghosn.

 

The automaker has also announced an outline of its new five-year business plan called Nissan GT 2012 which covers the period from 1 April 2008 to 31 March 31, 2013. The 'G' stands for growth and 'T' for trust.

 

The plan outlines commitments to quality, zero-emission vehicle leadership (it will introduce an electric vehicle in the US and Japan in 2010 and mass-market globally from 2012) and 5% revenue growth on average over five years.

 

This revenue growth will come from the launch of 60 new models in the next five years and around 15 new technologies every year from 2009.

 

Nissan also plans to expands sales of its premium Infiniti line (primarily by launching the brand in Europe), light commercial vehicles and low cost 'global entry cars' and increase volume in India, the Middle East, Brazil, Russia and China.

 

"Nissan GT 2012 reflects the determination of our company to play a major role in the development of a sustainable mobile society," said Ghosn.

 

"There's a balance to be sought between the potential growth in world markets and the demand for a cleaner planet. We are convinced that the mass availability of affordable zero-emission vehicles is the most significant breakthrough our industry could deliver, and, together with Renault, Nissan intends to be the breakthrough leader."

 

FY2008 outlook

 

Nissan's global sales forecast for fiscal 2008 is 3.9m units, up from 3.777m units with the growth coming mainly from general markets and Russia. The nine new products for the year are the Teana, Infiniti FX, Maxima, a Bakkie (South African pickup truck) successor, the seven-seat Qashqai+2, a mini SUV, Cube, Z and Infiniti G37 convertible.

 

Assuming foreign exchange rates of JPY100/$US and JPY155/EUR, Nissan expects consolidated net revenues down 4.4% to 10.35 trillion yen (US$103.50bn, EUR66.77bn), operating profit down 30% to JPY550bn (US$5.50bn, EUR3.55bn) and net income off 18% to 340bn yen (US$3.40bn, EUR2.19bn).

From: just-auto.com editorial team