Bumper year for Nissan

Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. announced financial results for the fiscal year 2007, ending March 31, 2008, and filed the following results with the Tokyo Stock Exchange:

* Net revenues of 10.824 trillion yen (US $94.62 billion, euro 66.98 billion)

* Operating profit of 790.8 billion yen (US $6.91 billion, euro 4.89 billion)

* Ordinary profit of 766.4 billion yen (US $6.70 billion, euro 4.74 billion)

* Consolidated net income of 482.3 billion yen (US $4.22 billion, euro 2.98 billion)

* Operating profit margin of 7.3%

In North America, sales were 1,352,000 units, up 1.3%; United States sales were 1,059,000 units, up 3.0%. In Japan, sales were 721,000 units, down 2.5%. In Europe, sales came to 636,000 units, up 17.9%. Sales in General Overseas Markets (GOM) were up 22.1% at 1,061,000 units, surpassing the 1-million mark for the first time.

In fiscal year 2007, Nissan released 11 all-new models globally: Livina, X-TRAIL, Altima Coupe, Atlas truck, Aprio, Infiniti G37 Coupe, Rogue, GT-R, Infiniti EX luxury crossover, Murano and a single-cab version of the Frontier Navara pickup truck.

The company’s net automotive cash position stood at 180.3 billion yen (US $1.58 billion, euro 1.12 billion) at the end of fiscal 2007. As originally planned at the start of Nissan Value-Up, Nissan will propose a 20-yen-per-share year-end dividend at the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in June, for a full-year dividend of 40 yen per share for fiscal 2007.

“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.

[b]Nissan GT 2012[/b]

Nissan also released an outline of its new five-year business plan called “Nissan GT 2012,” which covers the period from April 1, 2008, to March 31, 2013. With “G” for growth and “T” for trust, this new plan is focused on the company’s long-term performance combined with its responsibilities to stakeholders as a significant global business.

Nissan GT 2012 contains corporate commitments and business breakthroughs. The three commitments are:

1. Quality leadership: In addition to focusing on product quality, the company will continue and accelerate actions to improve service, brand and management quality.

2. Zero-emission vehicle leadership: Nissan will introduce an all-electric vehicle in the U.S. and Japan in 2010 and then mass-market vehicles to consumers globally in 2012.

3. Five percent revenue growth on average over five years (FY2008 to FY2012): Revenue growth will be supported by a product plan that will launch 60 all-new models in the next five years and more than 15 new technologies every year from 2009.

The three commitments of Nissan GT 2012 will be backed by five business breakthroughs:

* Quality leadership
* Zero-emission vehicle leadership
* Business expansion: Infiniti, Light Commercial Vehicles and global entry cars
* Market expansion: India, Middle East, Brazil, Russia and China
* Cost leadership

“Nissan GT 2012 reflects the determination of our company to play a major role in the development of a sustainable mobile society,” commented 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.”

Credits: Jarvis