Nissan will expand exports of vehicles developed in China from two models to five, targeting 12 regional market clusters in the “very near term”, CEO Ivan Espinosa told CNBC on Wednesday, as the Japanese carmaker cut its annual sales forecast for the second time since August.
Sales outlook lowered again
Nissan now expects to sell between 2.97 and 3 million vehicles in the financial year ending March 2027, down from 3.15 million. It had already trimmed the target from 3.3 million in August. The company kept its full-year operating profit and net cash forecasts unchanged.
China, Nissan’s second-largest market, remains the pressure point as local brands widen their line-ups. Espinosa’s answer is to develop cars in China for Chinese buyers, using local technology, lower costs and faster development, and then sell the same products abroad.
What it means for the Middle East
The region is already part of that plan. The Navara PRO pickup, sold as the Frontier Pro in China and built by Nissan’s Zhengzhou joint venture, is the first China-made Nissan bound for the Middle East, where it will be offered with petrol engines rather than the plug-in hybrid sold elsewhere. Shipments of the pickup to the Gulf began in September.
The N7 electric sedan, the first model developed by Nissan’s China joint venture, is being exported to Southeast Asia and Latin America. Nissan also plans to launch five more new-energy models in China by summer 2027, giving the export programme a larger pool to draw from.
Nissan has not said which three models will join the export list, or which of its 12 market clusters will get them first.
