By Michael Ellis
NOVI, Mich., Sept 24 (Reuters) - Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. will introduce 10 new vehicles to the U.S. market over the next 18 months that will "substantially" boost its sales over the next few years, a company official said on Tuesday.
"The face of the Nissan showroom is going to be totally different in a year than it was a year ago," said Jack Collins, vice president of Nissan North America product planning. "With all the new products we have, we expect our share to increase."
The new cars and trucks could propel the Japanese automaker's U.S. sales by as much as 50 percent over the next few years, Collins said.
Nissan's new look started with the Altima mid-size car, which earlier this year won the annual North American Car of the Year award, a first for a Japanese automaker. This summer, Nissan launched the 350Z sports car and the Infiniti G35 luxury coupe.
The pace picks up this fall with introduction of the Nissan Murano crossover sport utility vehicle, the Infiniti G35 coupe, and the Infiniti M45 luxury sedan.
Next year, Nissan, Japan's third largest automaker, will challenge the U.S. automakers and Toyota Motor Corp. in the market for full-size pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles. Also coming next year is the Maxima sedan, the Quest minivan, the 350Z convertible and the Infiniti FX45 crossover sport utility vehicle, Collins said. An Infiniti version of the full-size pickup truck will follow in early 2004.
MISSISSIPPI PLANT TO BUILD QUEST, TRUCKS
The Nissan Quest and the trucks, whose names have not been released, will be built at Nissan's new $1.4 billion assembly plant in Canton, Mississippi.
Collins said Nissan will target sales of 100,000 pickups during its first full year of production. Sales of the Nissan and Infiniti full-size SUVs are expected to eventually hit about 55,000 units combined. The Murano will add another 50,000 in sales, while sales for the Quest, the replacement of the current minivan, will hit about 80,000 annually, he said.
Most of the new products, such as the trucks, will be all-new entries and put Nissan in new categories, Collins said. With the Altima, Nissan began to see its sales climb for the first time in years, and next year the growth will pick up more, Collins said.
Nissan's U.S. sales, which account for more than half of Nissan's global operating earnings, hit a high of 830,767 in 1985.
Former New York Times reporter David Halberstam, in his 1986 book "The Reckoning," profiled Nissan as a symbol of the might of the Japanese auto industry. But in the late 1980s Nissan overextended itself. Losses mounted while debts piled up, and the company became known for its drab designs.
Since French automaker Renault SA bought a major stake in Nissan in 1999, the company has poured billions of dollars into new product investment while slashing costs.
As part of Nissan's new three-year business plan -- Nissan 180 -- the Japanese automaker aims to boost its global sales by 1 million vehicles to about 3.6 million over the next three years, including 300,000 in North America. That would suggest that Nissan could pass its U.S. record sales soon.
Nissan officials said earlier this year that they were aiming for U.S. market share of six percent by 2004 or 2005, up from 4.1 percent for 2001.