Dive Brief:
- Nissan Motor Co. revised its 2023 financial forecast last week, dropping its anticipated operating profit nearly 15% from 620 billion yen ($4 billion) to 530 billion yen, according to a press release.
- The automaker said a decrease in sales volume prompted the change, as well as cost reliefs for suppliers. It lowered its expected sales to 3.44 million units, down from the 3.7 million units it anticipated earlier this year.
- In its Q3 earnings report released in February, Nissan had cited “temporary logistics disruption and intensifying competition” as the reasons behind slowing sales.
Dive Insight:
Under its recently announced mid-term business plan, “The Arc,” Nissan aims to launch 30 new models and grow its sales by 1 million units by the end of fiscal year 2026. Sixteen of those new models are expected to be electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, accelerating the company’s EV plans.
The company is behind other automakers in the EV transition with only two models: the Ariya and Leaf. EVs made up just 2.3% of Nissan’s U.S. sales last year.
Nissan said in March that new business opportunities such as EVs have the potential to unlock 2.5 trillion yen in additional revenues by 2030.
While increasing its EV competitiveness, Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida said in a press release last month that The Arc will give the company the foundation it needs to achieve its long-term vision.
That vision, called Nissan Ambition 2030, outlines the automaker’s plans to achieve carbon neutrality and produce only zero-emission vehicles by 2050. As a part of the plan, Nissan said in 2021 it would invest 2 trillion yen each year over the next five years into the electrification of its vehicle lineup and technology innovation.
Nissan will report 2023 financial results on May 9.
