Nissan's Ghosn: US auto industry in recession
Carlos Ghosn, President, Knight, and big cheese at Nissan Motor Company and Renault, says the U.S. auto industry is in recession. Ghosn told the Associated Press, "We are very lucid on the situation of the industry that there is a recession in the United States, at least in the car market." With Nissan division sales in North American down 7.8 percent from this time last year (and the word "recession" literally meaning "the act of receding") few can contest his statement.
The Associated Press report adds that deflated U.S. car and light truck sales in 2007 marked the worst sales year in a decade. Brushing off long-term concerns, Ghosn is optimistic the market will improve. Yet, he cites the rising cost of raw materials as yet another concern for automakers. Maybe the best solution to Nissan's current problem is to quintuple production of the GT-R, sell it as both a Nissan and an Infiniti, and bait us all with attractive lease deals? Yes, that would definitely do the trick.
[Source: Just-Auto, subs. req'd]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
cameron42985 12:26PM (2/23/2008)
Kind of an understatement. Yet again, Nissan's kind of losing its edge w/ American buyers altogether. Altima aside.
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Andrew 12:33PM (2/23/2008)
No $hit, Sherlock.
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Albert 12:34PM (2/23/2008)
Is he Mr. Bean's brother?
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Andrew 1:01PM (2/23/2008)
It's quite funny that he looks like Mr. Bean because Rown Atkinson is English while Ghosn is Lebanese-"French".
Aaron 12:34PM (2/23/2008)
Mr. Bean, is that you?
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almost Dr. G.. 12:40PM (2/23/2008)
i could site a couple of people who are waiting to see what happens with the gas prices/war/economy/elections before they purchase a new car. i assume this is evenly distributed throughout the country.
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judd 12:44PM (2/23/2008)
Hello Mr. Obvious.
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Jason 9:32AM (2/25/2008)
That's Sir Obvious to you.
FamilyGuy 12:55PM (2/23/2008)
I didn't know Ghosn was "Master of the Obvious"
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DanMan 1:47PM (2/23/2008)
Thank you Lieutenant Obvious, you've just been promoted to Capitan.
BTW, both Mr. Bean and Mr. Ghosn actually look like General Napoleon.
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MajorGeek 2:02PM (2/23/2008)
True, nothing Nissan has interests me, looked at the Titan and did not care for it. I wondered years ago if all this full size SUV, pickup and van buying was going to backfire, I blame that for the problem. Now people are stuck with gas guzzlers that cost to much to drive and are almost worthless to try and trade in as dealers will mainly wholesale them off.
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caddy dave 2:29PM (2/23/2008)
Sam Donaldson called, he want's his hair back.
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Jeremy 2:30PM (2/23/2008)
Not every car company was down in terms of sales in the U.S. in 2007. Just because Nissan is losing its edge doesn't mean there's a recession.
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Tony 7:18PM (2/23/2008)
Just bought an 07 Altima 3.5 SE 6 sp manual. What an incredible car. Built quality, power and style for a reasonable price. Wade a go Nissan
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rushnrockt 3:46AM (2/24/2008)
May be if Xterra/Frontier/Titan differentials stopped blowing up for no good reason, that would help the sales figures too...
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big L 12:38PM (2/25/2008)
"look over there, Look over there" ...don't look at Nissan and Renault..."
(and no, bringing in 15000 GT-Rs would not help anything...)
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Vincenzo 1:33PM (2/24/2008)
Down in the USA, up in China, India, Russia.
Carlos knows where to go to find new customers.
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PJ 2:06PM (2/24/2008)
Nissan, losing its edge in product?Not if you've driven a G35, G37, 350Z, or Altima/Hybrid lately.
The new Sentra is the only recent flub I can think of.
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