Nissan nursed back to health

NISSAN Australia has its debt-ridden years behind it and is now in its fourth successive year of profit.

Speaking at the launch of the Series II Nissan Patrol in Queensland last week, Nissan managing director Mr Leon Daphne said the company finished the year 1999 with a small profit and burgeoning sales of its Pulsar, Patrol and Pathfinder models.

Patrol, with 9291 wagon sales and 4328 cab-chassis sales, recorded a best-ever performance - as did the Pathfinder with 3997 sales for the year.

Mr Daphne said the company had arch-rival Toyota LandCruiser firmly in its sights and had been in a regular top-spot swap game with Toyota since the launch of the GU Patrol in 1997.

The company has set an annual target of 10,000 Patrol sales, a figure it says should be comfortably achieved with the help of the new turbo-diesel version.

Nissan is also keen to have an entry in the growing small 4WD market. Mr Daphne hopes the company will compete in this segment within the next two years. It is expected the small Nissan 4WD will come from the European-based study revealed some two years ago by the president of the Nissan Motor Co, Mr Yoshikazu Hanawa.

The vice-president for product and market strategy for Nissan Europe, Mr Peter Slater, said the next generation of Nissan vehicles could see Almera, Primera, two compact MPVs and possibly a light four-wheel drive all off the same platform.

"We will certainly have three 4WD models in the future," Mr Slater said.

In the local small car market, the Australian Nissan operation is also keenly aware of the need to remain price-competitive.

Mr Daphne indicated Nissan would continue to pursue aggressive pricing policies with all its products, including the new Pulsar that will debut here in the second half of the year. This would indicate Nissan is holding firm to the concept of a below $20,000 price point for its entry level small car.

Mr Daphne also raised the issue of low-volume used car imports into Australia, saying the industry was waiting on a response from the Federal Government indicating the direction it intends to take following strong deputations from the local car industry via the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI).

Mr Daphne raised fears of a developing situation similar to that being experienced in New Zealand where used-car imports now total more than half the annual new registrations.

Mr Daphne said low volume imports were increasing here and that in some cases local new-car distributors had been faced with an influx of virtually new cars from Japan that in some cases have pre-dated local introduction of the same model. He quoted one instance where approvals were granted to import 1000 new Toyota Prado turbo-diesels before Toyota had launched the model here.

He said one of the most worrying aspects was the fact many of the low volume imports did not comply with Australian safety standards and spare parts were usually difficult to obtain. He claimed insurers were also reluctant to cover such vehicles.