Nissan Motor Co. reported first-quarter profit of nearly 14 percent, as a weaker yen gave room for the automaker to cut prices and boost sales in the United States.
Net profit rose to 82.02 billion yen ($818.9 million) in the three months ended June 30, from 71.97 billion yen a year earlier, the company said in a statement today.
Nissan's deliveries in the United States surged 25 percent in May, triple the industrywide increase, after the automaker cut the prices on seven models, including its top-selling Altima sedan. The Japanese automaker has fixed a shortage of supply that hampered sales of five new models in the United States last year, the company said last month.
"Nissan's sales performance in the U.S. has been robust," said Issei Takahashi, a Tokyo-based auto analyst at Credit Suisse Group. "They have cut the retail price of models and the production problem has been solved. These should be the two reasons for the increase in volume."
The price cuts and pent-up demand pushed up sales of the new Pathfinder SUV and Altima sedan, the two models Nissan revamped in the United States last year. Deliveries of the Pathfinder more than tripled from a year earlier and Altima sales rose 23 percent in June.
Nissan Leaf
Leaf sales were 2,225 units in June, the second-highest monthly tally for the model ever, according to researcher Autodata Corp. First-half sales this year have surpassed the 2012 total, after the company cut the price of the electric car, introduced a cheaper entry-level model, and boosted the battery range earlier this year. Deliveries of all-electric Leaf hatchbacks more than quadrupled in June, pushing sales to a record 9,839 sales in the first half.
"We will not argue that the Leaf is a key earnings catalyst for Nissan. It will remain a niche product for a long time," Christopher Richter, an auto analyst at CLSA in Tokyo, wrote in a report dated July 12. "However, the false notion that it is a failure should not deter investment in Nissan."
The price cuts from Nissan were the first signs that a Japanese automaker was taking advantage of the weakening yen. The discounting has put the rest of the industry on watch as a test for pricing discipline, John Krafcik, CEO of Hyundai Motor Co.'s U.S. unit, told reporters last month at an awards ceremony in Detroit.
Price cuts
"Nissan has boosted sales through very aggressive price cuts and incentives," said Ashvin Chotai, London-based managing director of Intelligence Automotive Asia. "The weak yen plays a big role in enabling more competitive pricing, especially on models imported from Japan such as the Rogue. Even models built in the U.S. benefit as they have some import content."
The automaker has projected that a weaker yen will add 225 billion yen to its operating income. Nissan based its forecasts for the current fiscal year on 95 yen to the dollar, while the yen traded at an average of 99 in the April-to-June quarter. Every one-yen decline will boost operating income by about 15 billion yen, the company said in May.
Net profit rose to 82.02 billion yen ($818.9 million) in the three months ended June 30, from 71.97 billion yen a year earlier, the company said in a statement today.
"Nissan's sales performance in the U.S. has been robust," said Issei Takahashi, a Tokyo-based auto analyst at Credit Suisse Group. "They have cut the retail price of models and the production problem has been solved. These should be the two reasons for the increase in volume."
The price cuts and pent-up demand pushed up sales of the new Pathfinder SUV and Altima sedan, the two models Nissan revamped in the United States last year. Deliveries of the Pathfinder more than tripled from a year earlier and Altima sales rose 23 percent in June.
Nissan Leaf
Leaf sales were 2,225 units in June, the second-highest monthly tally for the model ever, according to researcher Autodata Corp. First-half sales this year have surpassed the 2012 total, after the company cut the price of the electric car, introduced a cheaper entry-level model, and boosted the battery range earlier this year. Deliveries of all-electric Leaf hatchbacks more than quadrupled in June, pushing sales to a record 9,839 sales in the first half.
"We will not argue that the Leaf is a key earnings catalyst for Nissan. It will remain a niche product for a long time," Christopher Richter, an auto analyst at CLSA in Tokyo, wrote in a report dated July 12. "However, the false notion that it is a failure should not deter investment in Nissan."
The price cuts from Nissan were the first signs that a Japanese automaker was taking advantage of the weakening yen. The discounting has put the rest of the industry on watch as a test for pricing discipline, John Krafcik, CEO of Hyundai Motor Co.'s U.S. unit, told reporters last month at an awards ceremony in Detroit.
Price cuts
"Nissan has boosted sales through very aggressive price cuts and incentives," said Ashvin Chotai, London-based managing director of Intelligence Automotive Asia. "The weak yen plays a big role in enabling more competitive pricing, especially on models imported from Japan such as the Rogue. Even models built in the U.S. benefit as they have some import content."
The automaker has projected that a weaker yen will add 225 billion yen to its operating income. Nissan based its forecasts for the current fiscal year on 95 yen to the dollar, while the yen traded at an average of 99 in the April-to-June quarter. Every one-yen decline will boost operating income by about 15 billion yen, the company said in May.
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