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Nissan's quarterly profit fell 68% in the last quarter

TOKYO — NissanÂ’s profit fell 68% in the last quarter as a shortage of computer chips hindered the Japanese automakerÂ’s ability to deliver vehicles to its customers. Nissan Motor Co. reported Wednesday that its profit was 17.4 billion yen ($119 million) in the July-September, down from 54 billion yen the same period a year earlier. Quarterly sales jumped to 2.5 trillion yen ($17 billion) from 1.9 trillion yen a year ago. The company's chief executive, Makoto Uchida, acknowledged the company faces various headwinds, including a chips supply crunch that has slammed the global auto industry amid lockdowns and other restrictions related to the pandemic. “But I can say our operations are definitely improving,” he told reporters. Officials apologized to all those who had to wait for their Nissan cars to be delivered because of the semiconductor shortage. On the plus side, a weak yen has helped Japanese exporters, including Nissan, by boosting the value of overseas earnings when translated into yen. But Uchida said a volatile exchange rate was more of a risk because of NissanÂ’s widespread global operations. The U.S. dollar, at about 110 yen a year ago, is now trading at nearly 150 yen. “We find a stable currency as most desirable,” said Uchida. The rising cost of raw materials, as inflation pressures spread around the world, is another challenge, according to Nissan, based in the port city of Yokohama. Uchida and other company officials declined comment on NissanÂ’s talks with alliance partner Renault SA of France. He said any decision on reshaping the alliance will be announced. NissanÂ’s brand power has been tarnished by a scandal centered around its former chairman, Carlos Ghosn, who was sent in by Renault to lead Nissan for more than two decades. Ghosn was arrested on various financial misconduct charges in 2018, including under-reporting his compensation. He jumped bail and fled in late 2019 to Lebanon, which has no extradition treaty with Japan. He says he is innocent. Nissan lowered its vehicle sales outlook for the fiscal year through March to 3.7 million vehicles from an earlier projected 4 million vehicles. Nissan sold 3.8 million vehicles in the fiscal year that ended in March. Nissan raised its annual profit forecast to 155 billion yen ($1.1 billion) from an earlier 150 billion yen ($1 billion). Nissan, which makes the Z sportscar and X-Trail sport utility vehicles, earned 215 billion yen in the last fiscal year.

Recharge Wrap-up: Toyota FCV ready for production, Nissan tests Leaf-to-Home energy management

Toyota will begin selling its hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (FCV) in Japan in December. The US and Europe can expect to see the car become available next summer. The FCV, which will likely be called "Mirai" (meaning "future") in Japan, is ready for production ahead of its initial deadline at the end of the fiscal year in March. Toyota planned for annual production of 700 units, but might increase output to meet higher-than-expected demand, which is currently nearing 1,000 units. The cars will mostly be sold in the four cities where a hydrogen fueling infrastructure is already being put in place: Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka. Read more at Nikkei Asian Review. Nissan is testing the Leaf EV as part of an energy management system including "Leaf to Home" technology. The system allows the Leaf to help support the power grid during peak energy usage, or provide backup power to a home or building during outages, particularly in emergencies like natural disasters. Using the Leaf's battery to provide electricity during peak hours would lessen the demand on the grid and make the system work more efficiently. Furthermore, if consumers are compensated for the energy saved by using the Leaf for power during periods of high demand, it could encourage more people to adopt the EV. Learn more in the press release below. CDP has given Honda a perfect climate disclosure score in its Global 500 Climate Change Report for 2014. CDP keeps track of how much companies are disclosing about their impact on global climate change. "The need for data on corporate climate change impacts and strategies to reduce them has never been greater," says CDP CEO Paul Simpson. "For this reason we congratulate those businesses that have achieved a position on CDP's Climate Disclosure Leadership Index." Other perfect scores were earned by Nissan, BMW, Daimler and General Motors. Read more in the press release from Honda below. Scientists at Stanford University have developed a lithium ion battery that can warn users before it overheats. A thin layer of copper between the anode and the layer separating the anode from the cathode acts as a sensor. When it detects lithium buildups from overcharging are approaching the separator, it sends an early alert long before it gets to a point where it would cause a short (which could lead to a fire). The new safety measure could be used in all sorts of battery applications, and not be limited to EVs. Learn more at Phys.org.

Pretty scenery alert: Nissan Leaf drives up a volcano on Maui

Gravity taketh away but gravity giveth back, Nissan is trying to teach all of us. The Japanese automaker has posted a two-minute video about Maui resident Neil Wagner using his Nissan Leaf to catch the legendary sunrise over the volcano in Haleakala National Park. After climbing the more-than-10,000-foot elevation, the Leaf is shown having lost about 84 percent of its usable battery capacity. The finer point, though, is that electric vehicles have a regenerative braking system, meaning that the downhill ride and all of its switchbacks actually replenish battery capacity. Of course, the video didn't show exactly how much of that capacity was replenished, but the point is well-made, and with really cool scenery. Sales for the Leaf have already been strong this year. Through the first three months of the year, Nissan boosted sales 46 percent from 2013 numbers up to 5,184 units. This is after more than doubling sales last year to 22,610 units. And, for anyone curious, there are six publicly-accessible plug-in vehicle charging stations in Kahului and another eight in Lahaina, two of Maui's largest cities, according to the US Department of Energy. We're pretty sure that Mr. Wagner already knows that but we're going to take notes in case we need to make the sunrise drive one day. For now, we're going to check out Nissan's two-minute video below one more time. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.