Nissan Raises Earnings Outlook On Favorable Demand In U.S., China

Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Co. on Wednesday raised its earnings outlook for the year, helped by a weaker yen and favorable demand in the United States and China, after reporting a surprise first-quarter operating profit, Norihiko Shirouzu reported for Reuters.

Photo Insert: The Nissan Z proto

The company also warned that a global shortage of semiconductor chips will significantly hurt sales volume in the July-September quarter, but added that demand for its newly launched, pricier models will mitigate the impact on profits.

Nissan hopes to make up for production and sales losses during the latter half of the fiscal year ending March 2022 and expects semiconductor shortages to ease during that period, Chief Operating Officer Ashwani Gupta told reporters.

"Nobody has got a crystal ball. Nobody. But there are some assumptions," he said, referring to an expected easing of the crisis, partly because a fire-hit Renesas Electronics chip plant in Japan is functioning again.

Nissan, Japan's No. 3 carmaker, maintained its global sales target of 4.4 million vehicles that it had set for the year in May. Nissan sold 1.048 million vehicles in April-June, up 63% from a year earlier, when global demand was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

It sold 378,000 vehicles in North America (US, Canada and Mexico), up 70% from a year earlier, while sales in China totaled 352,000 vehicles, a 71% increase. Sales in the United States totaled 298,000 vehicles, up 68% from a year earlier.

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