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NEWS
Nissan considers model cull
Axe sharpening for slow selling Almera sedanThe Almera mini sedan could soon be culled from Nissan's Australian line-up and other slow sellers may follow.
New Nissan Australia boss Richard Emery is driving a simplification of the range with unpopular models in his target sights.
Emery, who joined Nissan on April 1 from Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific where he was sales general manager, has been hired with a mandate to get the company back on track after an ambitious 2013 sales expansion backfired in 2013.
Anything that sells less than 2000 examples per annum is in trouble, unless it adds something to the brand's image, Emery told motoring.com.au in an exclusive interview.
That image caveat offers cars such as the GT-R, the 370Z, the Patrol, the Leaf electric vehicle and even the Murano – which has just been launched in its third generation and goes on-sale in Australia next year – a lifeline.
But the dumpy Micra-based Almera (pictured) seems destined for the chop.
"It is one of the decisions we will have to make," Emery confirmed.
"I would be questioning any product that is worth less than 2000 cars a year unless it had something to add to the brand.
"On that basis you would wonder if we needed to continue with Almera."
According to official VFACTS figures, Nissan sold 2126 Almeras in 2013, but the company's pump priming of its registration figures last year means that could be a misleadingly high number.
Backing that up, after four months in 2014, just 82 Almeras have been registered compared to 1177 in 2013. However, more cars than that may have actually "crossed the kerb" from dealerships to buyers in 2014.
Other Nissans which will or could struggle to hit 2000 sales per annum include the Micra and the Patrol Pick-Up Cab Chassis. The Altima large sedan is a slow seller, but does not seem threatened.
Model variants could also be in the gun. For instance it is known more expensive variants of the Pulsar small car are nowhere near as popular as the entry-level versions.
"We have a lot [of products in the marketplace], we probably have too many," Emery conceded.
"The cull is difficult, because if you take it from a purely volume perspective you have to cull everything that is not 2000 cars.
"Well that is Z, that is Murano, and there are a couple of cars on a pure business base you'd say are the sorts of products that need to be culled.
"But on the other hand they also happen to be the type of cars which we stand for."
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Written byBruce Newton
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