Nissan president Carlos Ghosn said on Wednesday he wants his company’s European operations to achieve an operating profit margin comparable to that of a “good” local player, which he said was roughly 5%, Reuters reported.
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“Our objective is to be as good as any good European company in Europe,” he told Reuters at the Tokyo Motor Show.
The news agency said the European market has always been tough for Japanese car makers due to the presence of strong local brands and low volumes in a fragmented market.
Nissan’s operating margin in the region was just 2.2% last year, Reuters said, although that is still better than that of its bigger Japanese rivals Toyota and Honda, which don’t have the benefit of a local capital alliance as Nissan does with France’s Renault.
According to Reuters, Nissan has already cleared its target of an average 8% operating margin two years ahead of schedule – in the six months to September 30, the margin reached 11.3%, the highest in the industry.
