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RANKLIN, TN – High-profit pickups and SUVs aren’t selling well, so how is an auto maker supposed to bolster the bottom line without a product pipeline overflowing with fresh new vehicles?
Several OEMs are facing this quandary at the moment, including Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. The Japanese auto maker’s strategy is to declare 2010 the year of the sedan and to relaunch its 4-door models, the Maxima, Altima, Sentra and Versa.
Nissan is using the term “relaunch” not to suggest anything was wrong when the latest-generation vehicles arrived in the market (Maxima in 2008, the other three in 2007) but to highlight new features added this year to make the quartet more attractive to cash-strapped buyers.
To fully appreciate Nissan’s desire to embrace sedans, consider the latest sales figures for the Titan pickup. Through November, the auto maker delivered an abysmal 16,894 Titans, down 47% from year-ago. Light-truck sales overall were down 31% for Nissan, according to Ward’s data.
Through the first three quarters, the Titan has been outsold more than 4-to-1 by the Toyota Tundra. For perspective, the Tundra has been outpaced by the Ford F-Series pickup 5-to-1.
Nissan has sold more cars than trucks the past two years in a mix soon headed for a 60/40 split, Mark Perry, director-product planning and advanced technology strategy for Nissan North America Inc., tells Ward’s during a recent media event here.
Prior to that, Nissan consistently sold more trucks than cars. Several years ago, the mix was as high as 55% trucks.
“For sure, people are going to smaller vehicles because of miles-per-gallon and household incomes,” Perry says.
