Nissan Motor Co, Japan’s -second-largest automaker, aims to increase domestic sales to about 600,000 cars in a drive to hold 15 percent of the nation’s vehicle market by 2013 as it recovers from the record quake and tsunami in March.
Nissan executive vice president Hiroto Saikawa disclosed the target as part of a six-year plan yesterday in Yokohama.
In the long-term, Nissan seeks to boost market share to about 20 percent, Takao Katagiri, also executive vice president, said at the same round-table meeting. Last year, Nissan’s domestic market share was 13 percent.
FULL RECOVERY
Nissan expects to resume full production worldwide by October, targeting a 10 percent increase to 4.6 million global vehicle sales this fiscal year.
The automaker aims at domestic sales of 600,000 cars and exports of between 400,000 and 600,000, Saikawa said. Nissan sold 460,000 vehicles in Japan and exported 610,000 in the year ended in March.
EXPECTATIONS
Nissan posted net income of ¥85 billion (US$1.1 billion) in the three months ended on June 30, beating analysts’ estimates.
Toyota Motor Corp, the country’s largest automaker, raised its full-year profit forecast by 39 percent, while Honda Motor Co, the third-biggest, increased its forecast 18 percent.
NEW MODELS
Nissan will introduce 51 models over the next six years as it aims to capture 10 percent of global luxury-car sales. The models will meet demand for eco-friendly and compact cars, with half targeted at the Japanese market, Saikawa said.
The automaker seeks to achieve 8 percent levels in both global market share and operating profit margin by fiscal 2016, from 5.8 percent and 6.1 percent respectively in the year ended on March 31, according to a mid-term plan announced in June.
Three experts in the high technology industry have said that US President Donald Trump’s pledge to impose higher tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors is part of an effort to force Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to the negotiating table. In a speech to Republicans on Jan. 27, Trump said he intends to impose tariffs on Taiwan to bring chip production to the US. “The incentive is going to be they’re not going to want to pay a 25, 50 or even a 100 percent tax,” he said. Darson Chiu (邱達生), an economics professor at Taichung-based Tunghai University and director-general of
Zhang Yazhou was sitting in the passenger seat of her Tesla Model 3 when she said she heard her father’s panicked voice: The brakes do not work. Approaching a red light, her father swerved around two cars before plowing into a sport utility vehicle and a sedan, and crashing into a large concrete barrier. Stunned, Zhang gazed at the deflating airbag in front of her. She could never have imagined what was to come: Tesla Inc sued her for defamation for complaining publicly about the vehicles brakes — and won. A Chinese court ordered Zhang to pay more than US$23,000 in
‘LEGACY CHIPS’: Chinese companies have dramatically increased mature chip production capacity, but the West’s drive for secure supply chains offers a lifeline for Taiwan When Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技) entered a deal with the eastern Chinese city of Hefei in 2015 to set up a new chip foundry, it hoped the move would help provide better access to the promising Chinese market. However, nine years later, that Chinese foundry, Nexchip Semiconductor Corp (合晶集成), has become one of its biggest rivals in the legacy chip space, leveraging steep discounts after Beijing’s localization call forced Powerchip to give up the once-lucrative business making integrated circuits for Chinese flat panels. Nexchip is among Chinese foundries quickly winning market share in the crucial US$56.3 billion industry of so-called legacy
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday held its first board of directors meeting in the US, at which it did not unveil any new US investments despite mounting tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Trump has threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, prompting market speculation that TSMC might consider boosting its chip capacity in the US or ramping up production of advanced chips such as those using a 2-nanometer technology process at its Arizona fabs ahead of schedule. Speculation also swirled that the chipmaker might consider building its own advanced packaging capacity in the US as part