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
It’s now the Nissan 370Z.
Nissans are made in Tennessee and Mississippi...Their pick up trucks are good...(a friend has a Suzuki Equator, which is abadged Nissan Frontier. Another has the Titan.). I’m a Ford man, but their pick ups are good...
My buddy says the same thing. He had an Armada at one time,as well. Said he could watch the gas needle move to the left as he drove it.
Sounds like my V10 crew can f250... I expect if from it though and it’s well within its capability to pull 15000 lbs +
You knew it wasn’t going to be a Corolla when you signed the papers, Big Fella!!!
They may be near a threshold where it is simply too late. Who wants a car from a maker soon to be gone?
Just after they castrated the Pathfinder, they eliminated the Xterra entirely.
You couldn’t ever find a Pro 4-X model. They didn’t promote it like Jeep did for their crap ride Wrangler. Nissan couldn’t even bring its model years out on time. I have my 2012 in two wheel drive. Keep good KO2 tires on it and will probably put a second 100k on it.
Agreed. Eliminating the Xterra was a big mistake. It was a great off roader and their only vehicle that came close to Toyota’s FJ Cruiser (also discontinued) or the lesbian’s vehicle of choice - the Fiat Wrangler.
Ordered right, the Wrangler can be satisfactory if you drive little on the highway. I live in Arizona and could find a lot of use for one set up in a proper manner. They are, in my humble opinion, intolerable as a highway cruiser and I drive about 15 to 20k a year crisscrossing the country on big trips.
My Xterra set at 77 MPH still gets about 19 to 20 even with the big 10-ply tires. Tire road noise is irritatingly high, but it tracks great and will drive through anything.
It was a smoking deal used...still worth more than I paid for it 10 years ago so not complaining....been a great truck...just don’t drive it much as I don’t have much use for it anymore
Thank you.
I never heard it described that way before.
Sometimes what is true can also be upsetting.
Funny thing is we bought a 2009 Nissan rogue for them to drive. It’s a nice car seems to drive well but everyone claims the CVT transmissions are bad it scares me
Nissan isn’t a standalone company. It is 43% owned by Renault, last I looked.
Other brands include Mitsubishi and the Russian maker Lada.
I had a 1982 280ZX and really enjoyed that little car with the T-tops and 5-speed manual shift.
Get Woke, Go Broke.
However, I'm seriously thinking of Suburu Outback for my next car. It seems that Nissan is falling behind on technology and the 2020 Suburu Outback has an amazing 11.6" dashboard screen. Yeah, I'm a bit of a gadget geek. Also, Suburu Outback is known for being one of the best all wheel drive cars for driving around in snow. And we get a lot of snow here.
Nothing against Nissan, they have been very reliable over the years. But Suburu seems to really have their act together.
I would not buy an electric car if I could get it for half price.
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