Samir Cherfan, Nissan Middle East’s managing director, announcing the financial year 2014 earnings report for the GCC, the Levant, Turkey, Iraq and the CIS regions at the Burj Khalifa in Dubai yesterday.

By Johny Bastian/Dubai


Global automaker Nissan yesterday posted an 18.1% jump in GCC sales with as many as 185,135 units sold in the 2014 fiscal year that ended in March compared with 156,778 in 2013.
The Japanese automaker grew twice as fast as the Gulf market, achieving a 10.3% overall market share, the company said.
Nissan’s market shares in Qatar grew 1.4% to 16% in the 2014 fiscal year compared with 14.6% in 2013, making it the highest among all Gulf Cooperation Council members.
Nissan Middle East is now targeting to sell 240,000 units in the GCC region by fiscal year 2016, aiming for a 12.3% market share.
The 27-model Nissan line-up performed well across the spectrum, with the Patrol and Sunny faring exceptionally well. Patrol sales jumped 35% to 34,015 units, while Sunny sold 29,688 units in 2014, a 30% gain. Pathfinder recorded a 15% growth to 6,800 units and X-Trail touched 4,400, a mammoth 300% jump compared with 2013 fiscal year.
For the UAE, Nissan maintained its No 2 position in the sales charts with 63,036 units — up 10% on 2013 — and achieving a 15.3% market share. After the first full-year of operation under its revival plan in Saudi Arabia, sales jumped 141.7% to 61,806 units, reaching a 7.2% market share. Nissan’s brand purchase consideration in the kingdom also got stronger by 27% reaching the second position in the market, the automaker said.
“This is our third successive year of record growth in the Middle East and the momentum will continue due to our broad product line, top-quality customer service, outstanding dealership network, and commitment to our brand’s message of ‘innovation that excites,” said Nissan Middle East’s managing director Samir Cherfan.
Overall sales of the Nissan brand for the GCC, the Levant, Turkey, Iraq and the CIS regions touched a record-breaking 219,129 in the 2014 financial year that ended in March this year; a gain of 3.3% compared with 211,793 in 2013.
Nissan said it’s the “most awarded” automotive brand in the Middle East and North Africa region for the third consecutive year with 15 highly-regarded international and regional awards.
The automaker would also “continue to position its regular maintenance costs below competition and will expand its lineup with genuine products” such as engine oil, batteries and affordable parts for vehicles more than three years old.
Nissan Motor Co became the first Japanese car manufacturer to establish a regional Middle East headquarters in June 1994. Its operations now cover over 20 countries across the region, making it one of the best represented Japanese automotive brands in the Middle East.
Globally, Nissan, Japan’s second-biggest automaker, announced last week its fiscal-year net profit jumped a better-than-expected 17.6% to $4.2bn. A weaker yen and rollouts of new models helped the company beat its own earlier forecasts. It reported a ¥457.6bn profit in the year to March as sales rose 8.5% to ¥11.38tn. It has forecast a 15% jump in operating profit this financial year, expecting vehicle sales growth in most regions amid large cost cuts.
Global sales of Nissan, in which France’s Renault has a 43.4% stake, rose 2.5% to a total of 5.3bn vehicles last fiscal year, with US sales growing 8.9% and Europe, including Russia, accounting for an 11.7% gain.
The plunge in the value of yen has made Japanese automakers more competitive overseas and boosted the value of repatriated profits.