日產(chǎn)看好中國潛力 計劃擴大在華產(chǎn)能

Nissan Considers China Expansion

Nissan Motor Co. said it may boost production capacity in China next fiscal year, depending on market conditions, as it looks to catch up with rising demand in the world's biggest car market.

China is crucial for Nissan's profitability as it looks to bounce back from a slump in demand after the global financial crisis, but its lack of capacity there has hamstrung efforts to keep pace with the nearly 60% growth rate in the country's car market.

'First, we are going to evaluate growth in China this year, and then we will have to take some decisions on capacity,' Nissan President and Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said Thursday at company headquarters in Yokohama, Japan. The company is bullish about China's growth potential in the mid to long term, he said.

Nissan had already decided to boost its annual capacity in China to one million vehicles from 670,000 by the fiscal year ending March 2013.

In its fiscal fourth quarter ended March 31, Nissan's China sales rose 48% from a year earlier. But that was slower than the 58% growth in the overall market because of Nissan's limited capacity, Mr. Ghosn said.

On Wednesday, Nissan, in which France's Renault SA owns a 43% stake, reported a narrower net loss for its just-ended fiscal fourth quarter and said it expects net profit to more than triple in the current fiscal year. The company is targeting a 14% sales rise in China to help meet its record global sales target of 3.8 million vehicles.

Growth in China and other emerging markets will be the driving force to restore Nissan's profit margin to where it was before the financial crisis, Mr. Ghosn said.

Nissan posted an operating-profit margin of 4.1% in the last fiscal year and expects it to rise to 4.3% this fiscal year. But that is still well below the 7.3% in the fiscal year ended March 2008.

日產(chǎn)汽車(Nissan Motor Co.)說，下個財年可能將根據(jù)市場條件擴大在華產(chǎn)能。目前日產(chǎn)正努力趕上世界最大的汽車市場中國不斷增長的需求。
日產(chǎn)在全球金融危機之后正努力從需求銳減中恢復，中國對日產(chǎn)的盈利能力來說非常重要，不過該公司在華產(chǎn)能不足，阻礙了其與中國汽車市場近60%的增速保持同步的努力。

日產(chǎn)總裁兼首席執(zhí)行長戈森(Carlos Ghosn)周四在日本橫濱總部說，首先，我們將評估中國今年的增長情況，然后我們必須就產(chǎn)能作出一些決定。他說，日產(chǎn)看好中國中長期的增長潛力。

在此之前，日產(chǎn)已經(jīng)決定，在截至2013年3月的財年前，將把在華年產(chǎn)能從67萬輛提高至100萬輛。

在截至今年3月31日的第四財季，日產(chǎn)中國子公司的汽車銷量較去年同期增長了48%。不過戈森說，由于日產(chǎn)產(chǎn)能有限，這個增速仍低于58%的總體市場增幅。

日產(chǎn)周三公布說，第四財季凈虧損額收窄，并預計本財年凈利潤將增長兩倍以上。日產(chǎn)的目標是在華銷量增長14%，以幫助其實現(xiàn)380萬輛這一創(chuàng)紀錄的全球銷售目標。法國雷諾公司(Renault SA)持有日產(chǎn)43%的股權。

戈森說，中國和其他新興市場的增長將成為幫助日產(chǎn)利潤率恢復到金融危機前水平的推動力。

上個財年，日產(chǎn)公布營業(yè)利潤率為4.1%，預計本財年將增至4.3%。不過仍低于截至2008年3月的財年7.3%的增幅。