NISSAN has defied tough trading conditions to record an 11 per cent increase in the number of cars sold this year.
The figure relates to the period April to September, when the company sold 2.476 million vehicles worldwide. The rate of increase was well in excess of the industry average.
At the same time, Nissan announced it had achieved an operating profit of £2.3 billion from April to September this year – resulting in an operating profit margin of 6.3 per cent.
Net income was down slightly, but the figures were delivered against a difficult backdrop of unfavourable currency movements, deteriorating market conditions in Europe and signs of slowing growth in China.
Some markets are forging ahead in fine style. Nissan India, for example, has reported a whopping sales hike of 88 per cent, selling more than 24,000 vehicles since April.
Decisive response
Nissan President and CEO Carlos Ghosn, pictured here, said: ‘Nissan has achieved positive results in a challenging operating environment impacted by the continued appreciation of the Yen and particularly difficult economic conditions in Europe.
‘Despite these near-term challenges, Nissan has responded decisively and remains on course to deliver profitable growth in its full-year performance.’
Nissan expects to record a profit of £4.5 billion for the financial year and its sales prediction for 2012-13 has been revised downwards slightly from 5.35 million units to 5.08 million units.