Nissan hits record sales with compact car

TOKYO, Japan – Nissan Motors Ltd.’s passenger car division announced recently that domestic sales of its March small passenger car totaled 158,000 units, setting an all-time sales record for this model for the first time in six years. The March’s previous record was 142,000 units in 1996. The Nissan Sunny (known as the Sentra Exalta locally) holds the prior sales record at 171,000 units in 1990.

The March premiered in October 1982 in Japan as the forerunner of the global small car genre. It has been strongly favored by a wide range of customers for its highly refined design, superb driving ease and outstanding economy, among other attractive attributes.

Cumulative March sales in the domestic market now stand at 1,876,000 units. The March has been sold overseas, mainly in Europe under the name Micra and is the platform for the Nissan Verita, a highly popular retro-look small car. The Micra has been produced at Nissan Motor Manufacturing (UK) Ltd. since 1992, while the Verita is assembled at the Yulon Automotive plant in Taiwan. On a global basis, an astonishing 4.4 million units of the March/Micra have been produced, making it one of Nissan’s mainstay models.

The current third generation of the March has been an immensely popular model in Japan, posting average monthly sales of 14,000 units. It has ranked among the Top 10 best-selling cars in Japan every month since its launch in March 2002.

Developed around the design concept of "a modern stylish compact car, thoroughly pursuing user friendliness," the March continues a tradition of exceptional driving ease. The new March boasts of a highly original design, a totally revised chassis and a newly developed engine that delivers nimble driving performance, ranking among the best in its class.

All March models are certified as ultra-low emission vehicles (U-LEVs) by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport under its low-emission vehicle certification system. Besides being friendly to the environment, the March also provides world-class safety performance.

The March is but an example of how Nissan passenger cars provide its customers with the best in personal mobility. Nissan passenger vehicles are developed and designed with passion, creativity and advanced technologies.

Nissan’s vision is to enrich people’s lives through attractive, high-value products and technologies. In the Philippines, Nissan Motors Philippines (NMPI) has begun a stringent corporate revamp that is bringing together the best minds and new thinking into the company in order for it to meet the challenges of resurgence and re-establishing the Nissan name in the passenger car segment.

The important elements of this mission are designs born of passion and creativity, advanced and userfriendly technologies and telematics, and an emphasis on driving pleasure brought about by a well-balanced combination of all these important elements. Nissan’s unique, innovative cars are developed through active collaboration among the company’s design, engineering, production and other divisions.

Through close collaboration among development teams in Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and even in North America and Europe, NMPI has the ability to precisely meet customer needs anywhere in the world. Already this collaboration has led to the development of the new Nissan X-TRAIL has already been launched in Taiwan and Indonesia. Other ASEAN countries may launch the vehicle by the last quarter of the year.