2013 Nissan Sentra Sl on 2040-cars

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Nissan, least profitable Japanese automaker in Q3, stays strong on EVs

Nissan had some not-so-good financial news to report today. Despite a 57-percent net income increase, Nissan was Japan's least-profitable carmaker for the third quarter of last year. A weak yen helped put the company's operating profit below the estimates of financial analysts. In a speech on the financial situation, Nissan corporate vice president Joji Tagawa said "These results, however, do not reflect the full potential of Nissan." Given our focus on expensive electric vehicles, among other things, we wondered how this might affect EVs. One of the financial analysts told Bloomberg that the news is a "crisis" at the company, but the official word is that things are steady as she goes on the EV front. In his speech, Tagawa reaffirmed the company's strong belief in plug-in vehicles, saying that "Nissan's EV strategy will accelerate with the launch in fiscal 2014 of the e-NV200, the second all-electric model available globally." That electric van has the potential "to transform emissions among commercial vehicles" and Nissan remains interested in initiatives such as EV carsharing in Japan and the continued deployment of charging infrastructure. The speech transcript is available below. In a statement to AutoblogGreen, Billy Hayes, Nissan's vice president and program director, said that, "Nissan considers zero emission vehicles to be the ultimate solution for realizing sustainable mobility in the future and is strongly committed to EV technologies. Nissan's investment in Leaf and EV technology is positive for the company's business results over the lifecycle, and accelerating sales of Leaf only help to build economies of scale and improve the business model for the technology further." FY13 3Q financial results Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. Joji Tagawa, Corporate Vice President Introduction For the nine-month period, Nissan has made solid progress to improve its business performance. The pro forma nine-month financial results, and particularly those of the third quarter, are up compared to the same period last year, despite intense competition and uncertain economic conditions. These results, however, do not reflect the full potential of Nissan. Looking ahead to the quarter ending March 31, 2014, we expect to continue to improve our business results and as such, we are maintaining our prior profit outlook for the fiscal year.

2013 Nissan Pathfinder: Wrap-Up [w/video]

Despite our tendency as enthusiasts to clamor for things like wagons and hot hatchbacks, it's hard to argue with the buying public's increasing demand for functional crossovers. In fact, the great SUV craze of the late-1990s has all but faded in favor of the easier-driving, better-packaged, more-efficient crossover. That's even true at the larger end of the market - just look at what happened when Ford redesigned its body-on-frame Explorer into a stylish and well-equipped CUV. And now look at the similar success Nissan has had in repurposing its rugged Pathfinder sport-ute as an appealing crossover.
But happily, we report the following line: out of every long-term vehicle Autoblog has ever tested, not a single one has been as in-demand as the 2013 Pathfinder Platinum you see here. After 13 months of solid use, we added 24,372 miles to the Pfinder's odometer - and that's without the vehicle ever leaving the hands of our Detroit-based team (sorry, West Coasters).
There's good reason for that high-demand usage, too. After spending a little over a year with our Mocha Stone tester (a color that earned this Nissan the nickname "Sweet Brown") we came to appreciate its vast versatility, comfort, all-weather prowess, and the way it absolutely ate up the miles on long trips. We drove it all over the United States, in all four seasons, filling it with our families, friends, and occasionally using its capacious cabin for sleeping on the road. Through good and bad, the Pathfinder was a trusty friend. But like any good friendship, that wasn't without a couple of fights.

2014 Nissan Leaf price climbs $180 to $28,980*, Ghosn predicts sales doubling

A year ago, Nissan changed the fortunes of its all-electric Leaf in the US market by lopping a serious $6,400 off of the price. The entry-level 2012 Leaf started at $35,200, and the 2013 Leaf S instantly became a much better deal since it started at $28,800. For 2014, the trend is in the opposite direction, but only just. The 2014 Leaf S will start at $28,980. The other two trim levels will start at $32,000 for the SV and $35,020 for the SL. Oh well, we can't get a $6k drop every year, can we? What do you get for your extra $180? Well, as described in July, the 2014 model has the rear camera as standard and there is an available voice command navigation system and text message reader. We've got the full specification breakdown and pricing press release below. We doubt the small extra cost will do much to dent the Leaf's current sales upswing. December 2013 was the EV's best sales month ever, and a grand total of 22,610 units in 2013. That's more EVs than Nissan sold in 2011 and 2012 put together. Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn said earlier today that he thinks US Leaf sales will double, but didn't say when. "We are now on a trend of 3,000 cars a month in the US, which is about 36,000 cars" a year, Ghosn told Automotive News. "The next step is moving up to 4,000 a month, which is going to be approximately 50,000." The prices listed above do not include Nissan's $850 destination fee, but all Leaf EVs can qualify for the $7,500 federal income tax credit, as well as state and local incentives in some areas. NISSAN ANNOUNCES U.S. PRICING FOR 2014 LEAF™ NASHVILLE, Tenn. (January 8, 2014) – Nissan today announced U.S. pricing for the 2014 Nissan LEAF™, which is on sale now at Nissan dealers nationwide. The 100 percent electric LEAF continues to offer outstanding value, with prices comparable to similar gasoline-powered vehicles after applicable tax credits. Sales of the zero emission LEAF in the U.S. and around the world set all-time records in 2013. The 2014 Nissan LEAF is available in three trim levels: LEAF S, SV and SL, along with option packages offering advanced systems such as Around View® Monitor and 7-speaker Bose® audio. Enhancements for 2014 include the addition of the RearView Monitor as standard equipment on all models (previously part of the Charge Package) and one new exterior color – Gun Metallic (seven total available colors).