Profits before sales, says Nissan

Nissan Australia managing director Richard Emery has reiterated the brand’s new philosophy: “We won’t drive volume at any cost”.

Speaking at this week's launch of the new Navara Cab Chassis range, Emery told motoring.com.au that Nissan would not repeat its past mistakes, including heavy discounting that undermined resale values.

“We saw significant damage to the owner base in terms of residual value with some of the desperation sales we were doing in 2012 and 2013," he said.

“It’s a business model that works from time to time, but it’s not something we want to be doing. There will be available business for this car [the NP300 Navara], with fleets [for example], that we will walk away from [to avoid discounting].”

The changed philosophy, along with heavy investment in a robust SUV range led by the X-TRAIL and QASHQAI, has seen Nissan’s SUV sales trending upwards, though Emery acknowledges there’s still work to be done.

“In the sub-$25,000 category we compete with an expensive, unique car in the JUKE. [Mazda] CX-3 and [Honda] HR-V have shifted that segment down in price a couple of thousand dollars, so we will have a little bit of work to do there,” he said.

Emery’s larger concern surrounds the passenger car business, with poor sales and ageing models struggling to retain market share. Micra sales have plummeted 45 per cent so far this year, while the Pulsar is down 28 per cent and Altima 10 per cent.

“Internally, what are our challenge points? We have a good SUV product line-up and product plan going forward. The expanded Navara range puts us back in a traditional space.

“If we want to move from 70,000 to 75,000 Australian sales per year, we have to get the passenger business sorted, and that is a key focus for us in Japan.”

In terms of incoming passenger vehicles, Emery was honest: “We don’t have a direct solution now. Certainly there’s nothing in the next 18 months that will fundamentally shift the business. It will take a number of years.

“If we want to go beyond 75,000 sales [In Australia], we need a stronger passenger car performance,” he said.

Emery says investment in the electric LEAF hatchback will continue and, yes, the IDS Concept recently shown in Tokyo does preview some styling cues for the LEAF replacement.

“We remain committed to LEAF, we don’t make any money and don’t sell many, but it’s a key for us.

“I don’t know when it will be -- it might be five years or 10 years -- but when people turn around and say ‘electric is a legitimate choice’, I want us to be there.

"I want people to say, ‘Nissan has been doing it for 15 years, they must know what it’s about’' I want the LEAF to become the natural choice. We can only do that if we hang in,” he said.

Emery indicated the LEAF's EV tech would not migrate to other Nissan passenger cars in the near future. “I see it more as a distinct model,” he said.