Nissan Expects U.S. Car Market to Be Worse in 2008
By Naoko Fujimura, Bloomberg
The following story was posted online at www.leasetrader.com.
Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Nissan Motor Co., Japan's third- largest automaker, said the U.S. car market may fall to between 15.5 million and 16 million vehicles next year.
The U.S. car market will be ``a little bit worse'' in 2008 than in 2007, President Carlos Ghosn said at the Tokyo International Automotive Conference today.
With U.S. gasoline prices reaching $3.23 a gallon, consumers are opting for smaller, more fuel efficient cars in the U.S., Ghosn said. Nissan's sales in the country rose 4.7 percent to 813,053 vehicles in the first nine months of this year.
Ghosn, who is also chief executive of France's Renault SA, expects the alliance between Nissan and Renault to boost its production and sales to between 7 million and 8 million vehicles in the next business plan, compared with 6 million now, he said. Renault owns 44 percent of Nissan.
Nissan's mid-term business plan ends in the current fiscal year to March 31. Ghosn didn't say when the two automakers will unveil their new strategy.
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Print | posted on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 1:48 PM