Nissan 2007 Annual Report Download - page 33

Nissan Annual Report 2006-2007 31
The story for fiscal 2006 in our part of GOM—
Africa, the Middle East and Latin America—was
much the same as in 2005, with double-digit
growth momentum in all regions. Our total
volume was up 18 percent, and our average
market share rose to 7.7 percent. Our growth
was well balanced across Latin America, the sub-
Sahara, the Caribbean, the Maghreb, and the
Middle East. Some countries enjoyed explosive
growth, including the doubling of our sales in
Venezuela and Egypt, 18 percent in South Africa,
and more than 20 percent in some parts of Latin
America and the sub-Sahara.
Rising prices for raw materials and oil have been a
positive driver for us. For instance, our sales in Chile,
the world’s largest copper producer, are buoyant. The
increased traffic of such goods through the Suez
Canal and Panama Canal has also helped us. We’ve
doubled our volume in Egypt, and our sales in
Panama are thriving.
Last year we launched four new vehicles in Latin
America and the Caribbean, including the Tiida,
which was voted Car of the Year of the Americas.
We also introduced several new models in the Middle
East, such as the Sunny, now sourced from Korea
through our Alliance with Renault. This car is
incredibly successful—our initial sales projections
were too conservative, and we’re having a hard time
keeping our Middle East and African distributors
supplied. In the luxury market, Infiniti sales in the
Middle East totaled 4,700 units, up 28 percent.
That’s good, but in our opinion still far from the
Infiniti’s potential in the region.
We did lose an opportunity in entry-level cars,
simply because we don’t have this type of product in
our lineup yet. However, we recognize the global
opportunity of such products and we’re working very
hard to address this segment.
A Fast-Rising Performer
GILLES NORMAND
Corporate Vice President
Middle East, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean
New Showroom in Qatar opened in June 2007
On the plus side, Nissan’s brand power is
improving, demonstrated by the narrowing of the
price gap against our competitive benchmarks. In
certain markets and segments, we’re even exceeding
them. We also received four gold awards in South
Africa for sales and service quality—one in every
customer satisfaction category.
The company is clearly investing more to secure
growth. Last year we announced a 150 million dollars
investment to introduce a full new product lineup in
Brazil and Argentina. We’re using Brazil as a laboratory
to develop bio-ethanol and flexfuel technology, which
is crucial because we know that mature markets like
the United States and Europe are seriously
considering ethanol and flexfuel as alternatives.
Fiscal 2007 will be another year of progress for
us. We will launch a record eight new cars in the
Middle East, including the Altima sedan and coupe,
the Xterra, the Qashqai, the new Armada, and the
new Navara. We are introducing six new models in
the Maghreb region—another record.
We have also launched a new family of cars
called the Livina. The Livina is a global car, but we’re
introducing it in GOM first. It’s already being sold in
China and Indonesia, with launches in several GOM
countries to follow. As for the Infiniti brand, we will
introduce the G37 coupe, the EX, and other models
in the lineup. Our target this year is 6,000 units.
So, our GOM “revolution” continues. We feel good
about the products, our local operations and
business partners and, most importantly, our ability to
deliver what customers expect from Nissan.
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