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recently, nissan china released data showing that dongfeng nissan (including nissan, venucia and infiniti brands) sold 46,479 vehicles in august 2024, a year-on-year decrease of 28.39%. from january to august, nissan's cumulative sales in china were 435,603 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 9.80%.

nissan president and ceo makoto uchida said in an interview with the media that chinese automakers are "becoming stronger" and nissan is trapped in a "survival game" in the chinese market.

in fact, while the share of chinese brands continues to increase, most joint venture brands including dongfeng nissan are losing ground. as the gap in vehicle intelligence and electrification further widens and the price system is reshaped, the situation of joint venture brands has become more passive. ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

faced with the continued decline in sales in china, the world's largest auto market, nissan is also trying to completely change its strategy. including the launch of the pure electric suv ariea and the mid-to-large suv tanlu. but for now, it is difficult for these two cars to bear the hope of nissan's revival.

sylphy, the former sales pillar, has become increasingly difficult under the "siege" of models such as byd qin, seal and seagull. according to data from the passenger car association, sylphy sold 19,200 units in august, down 32% year-on-year, ranking sixth in the a-class sedan sales list. ‍the sales performance of other main models such as teana and qashqai are also unsatisfactory.

although dongfeng nissan has recently launched a limited-time price of teana, for nissan, it is still a temporary solution rather than a permanent solution.

falling year after year

after officially releasing the "nissan next" corporate transformation plan on may 28, 2020, nissan has continued to accelerate its layout in the chinese automobile market.

in september of that year, nissan ariya, a new pure electric crossover suv equipped with "nissan intelligent mobility" technology, officially debuted at the 2020 beijing auto show. this is also the second electric model launched by nissan in the chinese automobile market after the sylphy pure electric. according to the plan, nissan will launch 9 electric vehicles into the chinese market by 2025.

that year, with nissan's global sales declining, the chinese market became one of the few areas where nissan maintained positive growth. in 2020, nissan's cumulative sales in china exceeded 1.45 million vehicles. although it fell by 5.8% compared with 2019, and dongfeng nissan also fell by 3.2% year-on-year, dongfeng nissan's nine consecutive months of positive growth and the momentum of double-digit growth in sales of many of its models still demonstrate the stamina of the brand's development. ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

at that time, nissan was very high-spirited and firmly believed that it would return to the track of rapid development and maintain sustainable growth in the chinese market.

unfortunately, since then, nissan has begun to lose ground in the chinese market. ‍

image source: dongfeng nissan

in 2021, nissan can maintain stable sales with only a slight decrease; in 2022, the trend of sharp decline is already quite obvious. in 2021, nissan's sales in china were 1,381,494 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 5.2%; in 2022, nissan's sales in china were 1.045 million vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of more than 20%. in 2023, nissan's sales in china shrank sharply again, with annual sales of 793,800 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of nearly 25%.

the downward trend has not stopped this year. from january to august, nissan sold 435,603 vehicles in china, down 9.80% year-on-year, of which dongfeng nissan sold 403,500 vehicles. due to the sharp decline in sales, nissan also began to shrink production capacity in china. on june 21, it announced the closure of the changzhou factory, which mainly produces nissan qashqai. this factory has been in operation for less than 4 years since it was put into operation in 2020.

in fact, although dongfeng nissan has many models on sale, only one car, the sylphy, can capture the majority of the market share. as dongfeng nissan's main model, sylphy's sales account for almost half of nissan's total sales in china. however, under the siege of domestic new energy vehicles, the previous advantages have gradually weakened. data show that sylphy sold 19,200 units in august, down 32% year-on-year, ranking sixth in the a-class sedan sales rankings. from january to august, sylphy sold 211,200 units, down 10% year-on-year.

since 2022, old models such as sylphy, teana, qashqai and x-trail have all experienced varying degrees of sales decline. as for the new products airria, tanlu and super electric drive sylphy/x-trail, their sales contribution has not been significant.

at the same time, in multiple rounds of price wars, nissan's price cuts have not resulted in effective increases. recently, after the volkswagen passat launched the "limited-time fixed price", dongfeng nissan also launched the teana true heart edition, with a limited-time price starting from 127,800 yuan.

it is worth noting that this teana "real edition" is not an ultra-low-end "special car edition" or "beggars edition", but has automatic parking, reversing image, cruise control, electric sunroof, keyless entry (front "high-end" models with a series of configurations such as rows of seats), voice interaction, mobile phone app remote control, electric adjustment of the driver's seat, and a 12.3-inch central control screen.

sales volume continues to decline, and dongfeng nissan has to continue to break through the price bottom line to "cut prices and maintain volume." the price of the mid-sized sedan teana has dropped from 200,000 yuan to 120,000 yuan, and the price of the compact sedan sylphy even starts as low as 60,000 yuan.

someone related to dongfeng nissan lamented, "now is an era when the price system of traditional fuel vehicles has completely collapsed, and joint ventures can only follow byd's price and product system." according to industry insiders, although many respective brands have announced their withdrawal from the price war in different forms, fierce price competition will continue amid the overall involution.

regarding the current situation of "continuous decline" of japanese cars such as dongfeng nissan, cui dongshu, secretary-general of the national passenger car market information association, analyzed that the decline in sales of japanese cars is related to the development trend of the automobile industry. the market share of fuel vehicles is facing a sharp shrinkage, and chinese brands relying on new energy vehicles, they are accelerating to seize some markets of joint venture brands. however, the new energy vehicles of japanese car companies are in a weak position, and the market share of japanese cars has declined. ‍

slow transformation

in the field of new energy, dongfeng nissan has launched venucia vx6, venucia v dd-i ultra-hybrid, ultra-hybrid electric drive x-trail, ultra-hybrid electric drive sylphy, sylphy electric drive version e-power and ariya there are six models, but judging from the current situation, none of them have the product strength to compete head-on with the mainstream new energy models on the market.

the once proud "technical nissan" has now lost its right to speak in technology. the tide of electrification and intelligence is in the ascendant, but nissan has yet to make any substantial breakthrough in these two aspects. ‍‍‍

nissan is also aware of this shortcoming. at this year's beijing auto show, nissan brought a strong electric drive product lineup including 5 new energy concept cars, which concentrated on its intelligent and electric drive products. the latest achievements and future development directions in the field. at the same time, nissan also announced that it will cooperate with leading companies in the field of intelligence in china and further strengthen its relationships with local partners.

makoto uchida said: "the chinese market is undergoing huge changes. nissan needs to respond quickly and remain competitive. therefore, nissan is tailor-made for the chinese market under the guidance of its new strategic plan 'the arc nissan arc plan' we have customized a strategy that focuses on balance and focus. we will promote it through three pillars: first, launch more new energy vehicles; second, fully combine local advantages and global capabilities; third, change the operating model. in addition, in order to meet everyone's needs. 'ni' personalized travel experience, nissan has launched a new brand proposition 'enjoy by ni'. these initiatives will help us realize our commitment of 'in china, for china'."

image source: dongfeng nissan

according to "the arc nissan electric arc plan", nissan will launch 8 new energy vehicles in the chinese market in the next three years, including 4 nissan brand models. in terms of intelligence, based on the needs of chinese users, we introduce chinese technical solutions to achieve china's development speed.

although nissan emphasizes accelerating transformation, five months have passed and there has been no relevant progress. in a situation where chinese brand technology is rapidly changing and evolving, nissan is still trapped in the "dangerous situation" of price war.