Nissan is facing significant financial difficulties that have led to a situation where it might go bankrupt if not addressed. Here are the key reasons based on recent reports:
- Declining Sales in Key Markets: Nissan has seen a significant drop in sales, particularly in the United States and China, which are two of its largest markets. This decline has been attributed to a lack of compelling new models and the inability to keep pace with market trends, especially in the electric vehicle (EV) sector.
- Unsuccessful EV Strategy: Despite being an early player in the electric vehicle market with the Nissan Leaf, the company has not expanded its EV lineup as rapidly or effectively as competitors. This has resulted in losing ground to other manufacturers, especially in markets where EV adoption is growing rapidly.
- Heavy Losses and Financial Performance: Nissan reported an 85% drop in its operating profit in the third quarter and posted a net loss, indicating a severe financial strain. The company is dealing with high operational costs and low profitability, exacerbated by worldwide sales slumps.
- Leadership and Management Issues: The company has been through significant executive turnover and controversy, notably with the arrest and subsequent escape of former CEO Carlos Ghosn. This has led to a period of instability in leadership and strategic direction.
5. All Nissan’s Vehicles look the SAME.
All the SUV’s look the same. All the Cars look the same. Both of the Sports Cars look the Same. Both of their EV’s look the same. Nissan is building a lot of vehicles that all look far too homogenized. In other words, inbred.
Nissan is also putting CVT transmissions in most of their vehicles now. Continuously Variable Transmissions is supposed to mean the car is always in the right gear. What it actually results in, is that the car is never in the right gear. And CVT’s are about as reliable as a $20 Automatic Watch from TEMU. Nissan needs to buy their transmissions from ZT and/or Toyota. Period. Forget CVTs.
It doesn’t help that the Worst Drivers In America seem to all be driving Nissans. But that’s just my observation locally. Maybe it’s a Carolina thing.
This leaves us with the question… Does Nissan deserve to survive?
That’s a tough question… But the answer is YES. And here’s why:
The Nissan Titan and Frontier are quietly going about being some of the best trucks out there on the road and work site and oil fields. They are built solid, tough, and reliable in the way Toyota trucks used to be. (Don’t buy a new Toyota Truck – buy a gently used one from 2022 or older)
So here is what NISSAN needs to do: Kill off the Me Too Cars. Nissan’s product line is confusing to the Consumer just like it’s confusing to the Sales People. The Product line is competing with the product line and it’s making people go over to Honda and Toyota.
I visited a Nissan Dealship the other day and to be honest – it was a parade of clown shoes. I can see why there’s an 80% drop in sales. I couldn’t GTFO fast enough.
For the SUV’s leave the Rogue, the Pathfinder and the Armada. The Kick, Ariya, and the Murano need to die in a fire. Take the Pathfinder and make a version of it called an Xterra and make it an actual freaking Off-Road warrior. Not a Wet Leaves on the Road vehicle. The Car cars… Leave the Altima and kill the others. Just kill the others… the Sentra, the Versa, and the Leaf. Just Altima. WTF happened to the Maxima? Remember that one? The one with the 300ZX engine? What happened to you, Nissa? Who did this to you? Sports cars are in a different category, and the GT-4 is just bullshit. The 300 ZX is now just the “Z”. That’s dumb. Make it the 300 ZX again and make it Retro styled like how Ford treated the Mustang. Harken back to when Nissan meant something. Do the same thing with the Maxima. As far as the EVs go… Axe them both. Consumers are not buying Nissan EVs. If Nissan wants to make an EV – they need to start all over again. From scratch.