Posted on 07/27/2019 9:43:24 PM PDT by LibWhacker
Some very bad news today – for Nissan.
Profits are down 99 percent. Not a typo. A near-total wipeout – which triggered the wiping out of 12,500 jobs, the immediate suspension of manufacturing in Indonesia and Spain and an announcement that Japan’s second-largest car company will reduce its model lineup by at least 10 percent by 2022.
Nissan’s U.S. market share is down to 7.9 percent; it was 8.1 percent a year ago.
It is quite possible there won’t be a Nissan by 2022.
So, what’s gone awry?
One thing – a thing which is going awry generally – is the monecy being wasted on electric cars for which there is no market. Or rather, which there’s no money to be made from making.
Nissan’s Leaf – the company’s first electric car – cost Nissan almost as much money to develop as it continues to lose “selling” it. And when the federal subsidy for electric car “purchases” goes away, it will cost Nissan – and everyone else “selling” electric cars – even more as people decline to “buy” them at all.
Which will happen, because the ending of the subsidies amounts to a $7,500 effective increase in the cost to the buyer – the price of “green,” as it were.
Nissan, et al, will then have to resort to discounts of their own equivalent to the federal subsidy, just to get the electric turduckens off their lots.
This would be no big deal if it were only a handful of electric Turduckens. But because “climate change,” Nissan and everyone else has been forced to commit billions to development of hundreds of thousands of electric cars they won’t be able to sell – unless the ability of people to buy them somehow increases by 30-50 percent or more, this being the rough difference (all else being equal) between an electric car and an otherwise equivalent non-electric car.
Who’s going to ante up?
The going-away subsidy all by itself is equivalent in value to 3,125 gallons of regular unleaded at current prices (about $2.40 per gallon). That fills up a 12 gallon gas tank about 260 times – enough to take you 93,000 and change miles at 30 MPG.
However much people may believe the sky is about to fall because “climate change,” most aren’t going to walk away from what amounts to free fuel for nearly 100,000 miles of driving – by not driving an electric car.
The 12,500 jobs that just went up in smoke – along with Nissan’s profits and possibly Nissan itself – are just the beginning.
A real scheisse show is percolating.
But there is a silk lining to this sow’s ear – for the moment.
It is that you stand to score a deal on any Nissan (excepting the Leaf). The news about Nissan’s precarious finances is already spreading like an oil slick on the ocean and dealers will be increasingly desperate to offload what they can while they can.
And here’s the crazy thing:
Much of what Nissan sells is actually good stuff. In part, because it hasn’t got much of the new stuff – things like turbo fours in big trucks and direct injection and ASS in everything. Nissan is also the only car company whose new cars let you drive without “buckling up for saaaaaaaaaaaafety.”
Well, without badgering you like an annoying mother-in-law via a buzzer that won’t shut up until you do.
All the more reason to shop now.
While you still can
I know that all but one dealership has closed in Los Angeles. Only one dealer the entire city!!!!
Canary in the coal mine?
Oh, wait...
Oh, wait...
A brand new Nissan Dealership just opened here in West Bend, WI.
Nissan cars and trucks are kinda ugly and boring.
They have made some pretty good quality stuff in the past but there styling has been a little off from mainstream for a while at least in my opinion.
Now the city has some place to put its garbage.
“Nobody demands more from a Datsun … than Datsun.”
Or maybe just “Nobody demands a Datsun.”
Off Topic:
I noticed your pen name of Romans Nine.
Now you have me curious of what it says.
Is that in the Old or New Testament?
Or maybe it doesn’t refer to a Bible note @ all.
I definitely see a lot of them driving around Houston. Hard to believe they’re losing money on their cars and trucks other than the Leaf.
I owned a Nissan Altima. Between myself and my son we drove it for ten years and it was a great car. Plus, it had a 3.5 liter V-6 that generated 270 horses. It was comparable to, maybe even better than, a 3-Series Beemer. I loved that car and would get another Nissan tomorrow if I were in the market. I see many Nissans on the road, hard to believe they could be gone soon. But where are Pontiac and Oldsmobile?
The price that all us taxpayers pay. Everytime I see a Tesla I think I'm subsidizing that a-hole and his $100K auto.
Great point. Its pickups are ugly and they’ve yet to do much about the body style. Everyone else making trucks, makes vehicles that look like trucks which is what people want. On a side note, my buddy has a Titan and is closing in on 300k miles and nary a problem. His dealership wants to buy it from him, but he won’t sell it.
Nissan’s quality has been on the decline for 20 years now, since they joined up with Renault. Transmissions are crap, especially the CVTs. Not quite GM or Fiat Chrysler level but definitely not as good as they were in the 80s and 90s.
They seem to sell a lot of cars though. Only Toyota and Honda maybe sell more from what is visible on the road.
This is so disappointing. I have a 2018 Rogue and it’s a great car. I’m very happy with it. Wasn’t as pricey as a Toyota or a Honda. Drives great, handles well, has all the toys. I like it. WTH Nissan?
My thoughts exactly. They have some issues but overall near best for the money.
Nissan’s not going away. Renault has controlling interest and they have been cost cutting. I wouldn’t go with one because I hate CVTs.
Personally I think that’s the whole idea of ‘climate change products’. Make ‘em go belly up, ruin the country and then scope in and take over.
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