2013 Nissan Pathfinder S on 2040-cars

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Nissan officials answer to angry shareholders on red ink, Ghosn scandal

Smoke engulfs the Nissan logo as workers burn tires during a protest in Barcelona, Spain, where the automaker is closing its plant, costing 3,000 direct jobs. (AP/Emilio Morenatti)     TOKYO — Nissan Chief Executive Makoto Uchida told shareholders Monday he is giving up half his pay after the Japanese automaker sank into the red amid plunging sales and plant closures in Spain and Indonesia. Uchida apologized for the poor results and promised a recovery by 2023, driven by cost cuts and new models showcasing electric-car and automated-driving technology. “We will tackle these challenges without compromise,” he said at a live-streamed meeting. “I promise to bring Nissan back on a growth track.” Executives for the company also blasted suggestions in media reports of a conspiracy within the company to oust Carlos Ghosn. The former chairman's 2018 arrest in Japan on financial misconduct charges has led to much speculation that the move was orchestrated by Nissan executives who opposed closer ties with partner Renault. “I know that in books and the media there has been talk about a conspiracy, but there are no facts whatsoever to support this,” Motoo Nagai, chairman of NissanÂ’s auditing committee, told shareholders at the companyÂ’s annual general meeting. Responding to demands from a shareholder to address the speculation, Nagai argued that the investigation into Ghosn was conducted both internally and by outside law firms. All the worldÂ’s automakers have been hurt by nose-diving sales caused by the coronavirus pandemic. But the problems are especially serious for Nissan, which already was fighting to salvage its reputation after the financial misconduct scandal of former star executive Ghosn. Nissan, based in Yokohama, Japan, sank into its first annual loss in 11 years, reporting a 671.2 billion yen ($6.3 billion) loss for the fiscal year that ended in March. It has not given a projection for this fiscal year, citing uncertainties over the virus outbreak. One angry shareholder got up and said executives should give up more of their pay since investors were getting zero dividends. Another said Nissan needed to do more to strengthen its governance, arguing things have been getting worse, not better, since the departure of Ghosn.

Trucks, SUVs drive U.S. October new vehicle sales

DETROIT — Major automakers posted mixed U.S. new vehicle sales in October on Wednesday, though America's love affair with high-margin pickup trucks and SUVs remained in full bloom as larger, pricier vehicles fared better than passenger cars. Auto industry publication WardsAuto put the seasonally-adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) for light vehicle sales in October at a robust level of 18 million units. But after a long boom cycle, carmakers are still ill-prepared for the slight decline in sales anticipated for full-year 2017 and have taken too few steps to trim production, said Doug Mehl, a partner in consultancy A.T. Kearney's automotive practice. "When you make a new vehicle, you have volume assumptions tagged to it, and who wants to be the guy who says, 'I'm going to make less of this really cool model'?" Mehl said. "But eventually the market is the reality, and it's going to force companies one way or other here." General Motors GM reported a sales drop of 2.2 percent for the month, with consumer sales down 6.6 percent. But sales of high-margin pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles and crossovers all rose. GM also cut its inventory of unsold vehicles — a source of concern for the market — slightly. The automaker has worked to reduce its volume of excess inventory, including through significant production shutdowns in the third quarter. GM had said its inventory would rise in October. "We are heading into the fourth quarter with good momentum, thanks to a strong U.S. economy and very strong pickup and crossover sales," said Kurt McNeil, GM vice president for U.S. sales operations. GM slightly reduced consumer discounts as a percentage of average transaction prices to 13.5 percent, from 13.7 percent in the third quarter. Industry experts believe consumer discounts above 10 percent of the average transaction price are unhealthy as they erode resale values and are unsustainable in the long term. Consultants J.D. Power and LMC said last week that based on preliminary October sales numbers, discounts have exceeded 10 percent in 15 of the past 16 months. Ford The U.S. auto industry posted record sales of 17.55 million vehicles in 2016. New sales received a strong boost in September as consumers replaced vehicles damaged in southeast Texas by Hurricane Harvey the previous month. Full-year 2017 sales are expected to be slightly lower than 2016.

Nissan VP suggests next Z will offer multiple engines

Roel de Vries, the corporate vice president and global head of marketing and brand strategy for Nissan, told Australia's CarAdvice that as far as he's concerned, any engine in the 370Z "[needs] to deliver on what the car stands for and if the 370Z stands for real performance and real driving I think it doesn't need a V6 to do that." At first read, it could look like de Vries is softening us up for a next-generation Z that doesn't come with a V6, a move that would disappoint a lot of the coupe's fans. Or, what if de Vries was actually getting us ready for a Z with multiple engine options, instead of only a V6, in order to expand its global appeal? That appeared to be the gist of his comments, the exec saying that they couldn't sell a V6-engined Z in Europe, but even if they offer a four-cylinder there, the V6 could live on because, "why should we give it up?" With the coupe's current name a factor of the 3.7-liter displacement of it's V6, though, what is the future for a car with several engine options? Said de Vries, "We [will] definitely keep the Z name, but when we did 350 to 370 it was because of the capacity, but who says the next-generation doesn't have three engines and its not just called Z?" This kind of talk has been going on all year, the real question being how many engines will the car get and what's the endgame. At the beginning of the year, ex product chief Andy Palmer said the car codenamed Z35 would use a "downsized four-cylinder turbocharged engine." In August, Motor Trend reported that the next Z would offer "a mixture of smaller but powerful engines," including a hybrid, but that a V6 would remain the headliner. Two weeks later, MT said that Nissan wanted to transition customers from the naturally aspirated V6 to a turbocharged four-cylinder with the same power, eventually, but would begin with both on the menu. Parallel to that are Shiro Nakamura's out-loud musings about how to merge the next Z and the IDx concepts into "a more affordable, more approachable sports car." The answers, whatever they are, will be a big deal for the brand.