Nissan has announced a voluntary retirement programme in Japan after reporting a sharp decline in domestic sales.
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The offer is being made to those aged over 45 years who have been with the company for more than five years. Around 12,000 Nissan employees reportedly fall into these categories. The offer runs from 1st June 2007 to the end of March 2008 and ressembles a similar offer made in the US, which was taken up by twice the number of people originally expected.
For the financial year ending March 31, 2007, Nissan’s global production fell by 6.8% to 3.21m units. Domestic production totaled 1.19m units, down 12.7%. Only the new Skyline and refreshed Presage models saw an increase in production.
Overseas production fell 2.9% year-on-year to 2.01m units. US production fell 11.4% year-on-year to 716,211 units. In Mexico, increased production of the new Versa hatchback and Versa sedan (Tiida in Japan) boosted production 13.0% year-on-year to 427,917 units.
In the UK, both the new Qashqai and Note were positive contributors, although overall production dropped 4.6% from the previous year to 302,634 units, resulting from the reduced output of other models. Production in Spain climbed 4.1% year-on-year to 213,479 units, supported by robust sales of the Navara pickup truck.
In other global markets, overall production recorded a drop of 2.9% from the previous year to 353,318 units, with the exception of China and South Africa which saw increased production.
Nissan’s domestic registrations in the 12 months ending March 31, 2007 fell 17.0% from the previous year to 596,119 units. Nissan’s share of domestic registrations was 16.6%, down 1.8 percentage points year-on-year.
Nissan’s domestic sales, including mini-vehicles, decreased 12.1% year-on-year to 739,925 units. Sales of the mini-vehicles range including the new Moco, Otti and Pino increased, but failed to offset falling registrations of other models. Nissan’s share of the domestic market, including mini-vehicles for the 12 months ending March 31, 2007, was 13.2%, down 1.2 percentage points.
US sales were down 3.7% year-on-year, to 1,035,003 units. Positive results from the new Versa, Murano and new Infiniti G35 sedan contributed to total sales exceeding the one-million mark for the third consecutive year.
In Europe, sales increased 0.7% year-on-year to 534,945 units.
Nissan’s exports for March the 12 months ending March 31, 2007 decreased 8.4% year-on-year to 617,384 units. Exports to North America dropped 7.1% from the previous year to 238,034 units. Exports to Europe fell 16.6% from the year prior to 76,978 units.
