Nissan has reported a 14% quarterly profit increase based largely on strong US sales of its vehicles. Profits rose to $818.9 million for the three months ending June 30th, easily beating out analyst estimates.
The company saw huge gains in the US with deliveries increasing 25 percent for the month of May. This was was triple the industrywide increase for the month. Price cuts on seven different Nissan models, including its best-selling Altima, were a big part of what fueled such incredible gains.
The weakening yen has made it more feasible for Nissan to bring down the costs of its cars. This affects both models imported from Japan and bleeds over to those manufactured here in the US.
The automaker also managed to correct some supply problems that were causing vehicle shortages and hampering sales. The shortage had affected five different models last year.
The revamped Pathfinder and Altima saw particularly large increases for the quarter. Pathfinder delivers tripled over the same period last year and the Altima saw a 23% increase for the month of June alone.
The Leaf also performed very well thanks to aggressive action on the part of Nissan at the start of the year. They began by cutting the price of their electric car by $6,000 and bringing it down to $28,000. Combined with tax incentives, buyers might be able to get a Leaf for as little as $18,800.
Nissan also boosted the Leaf’s battery range, and introduced a less expensive entry-level version. This all helped June sales hit 2,225 units. That’s quadruple the number from last June.
Sales of the Leaf so far this year have already passed its total sales for all of last year. Nissan moved a record 9,839 units of the Leaf through June 30th and it is expected to be a continued strong performer throughout the rest of the year.
Nicole Wakelin fell in love with cars as a teenager when she got to go for a ride in a Ferrari. It was red and it was fast and that was all that mattered. Game over. She considers things a bit more carefully now, but still has a weakness for fast, beautiful cars. Nicole also writes for NerdApproved and GeekMom.
