Nissan on track to hit sales target as Sino-Japan ties improve
Carmaker pins hopes on a new model line-up to help reverse decline in mainland sales amid economic slowdown and intense competition
Thawing relations between Beijing and Tokyo should help Nissan Motor hit its target of selling two million vehicles on the mainland in its 2017-18 financial year, the carmaker's vice-chairman Toshiyuki Shiga said.
Speaking to reporters in Singapore at the weekend, Shiga said a meeting between President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during the recent Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing had the potential to revive the fortunes of Japanese products on the mainland.
"This was a very, very important milestone," Shiga said. "I don't think an emotional barrier can be eliminated at once by one meeting. However, if that meeting leads to better relations between Japan and China, then this type of barrier can be neutralised."
Relations between Beijing and Tokyo soured sharply in 2012 over disputed island territory in the East China Sea to which both governments lay claim.
The diplomatic deadlock has ratcheted up fears of the risk of an outright conflict being inadvertently triggered as Beijing asserts itself more in the region. China has territorial disputes with a host of its neighbours.
Asked if the meeting between the two leaders reinforced his confidence in hitting the two-million-unit target, Shiga said: "Yes, yes, yes."
Shiga declined to speculate on the exact impact the most tense relations in years between Asia's two biggest economies had had on Nissan's sales.
"To be honest, I don't know how much this has influenced [sales], but I cannot deny that it had an influence," he said. "Some customers still have hesitation to buy Japanese cars. That's a matter of fact."
He stressed though that consumer sentiment about Japanese products was just one of the many challenges facing Nissan, which earlier this year was overtaken by Toyota Motor Corp on the mainland.
Declining sales in the heavy-goods vehicle segment as the economy slowed and tighter emissions standards for light commercial vehicles, part of Beijing's effort to tackle the country's mounting pollution problems that had raised prices, were key drags on sales growth, Shiga said.
He also pointed to stiff competition from a raft of new entrants in the compact-car space that Nissan had dominated.
Shiga said a new model line-up for the mainland, including an affordable car range, would help reverse the decline.
And he pointed to the success of the Nissan X-Ray, which was selling out on the mainland, as reasons to be optimistic about future growth.
"Market conditions are difficult, but there are countermeasures we are taking to deal with them," Shiga said.
Nissan's chief competitive officer, Hiroto Saikawa, said earlier this month that fixing the sales decline in China was the most important priority for the global vehicle giant.
