Nissan Motor’s Financial Results for Fiscal Year 2020

Nissan Motor’s business performance in fiscal year 2020 showed a 20.4% year-on-year decrease in sales to 7.86 trillion JPY and an operating loss of 150.7 billion JPY. In fiscal year 2019, Nissan posted an operating loss for the first time in 11 years since 2008 following the Lehman shock, and for the first time since fiscal year 2000, it posted a loss for two consecutive years. In 2020, business performance deteriorated, especially due to the decrease in sales triggered by the impact of the new coronavirus in the first quarter. In Nissan’s business transformation plan “Nissan Next,” announced in May 2020, the company outlined that it aims to achieve an operating profit margin of 2.0% in fiscal year 2021 and 5% in the final fiscal year of 2023.

In fiscal year 2020, global sales volume decreased 17.8% from the previous fiscal year to 4.05 million units. However, unit sales were on a recovery trend in the latter half of the year and sales increased in the fourth quarter, outpacing growth in total demand, up 0.9% from the forecast as of February 2021. Looking at the factors impacting operating profit, due to decrease in sales, the decline of “volume and mix / parts sales / other” by 434.4 billion JPY became the largest negative factor, putting pressure on profits. On the other hand, “pricing and selling expenses” increased profits by 194.2 billion JPY. The results of the company’s efforts to improve the quality of sales were apparent, but this was not enough to compensate for the impact of the decline in sales, resulting in an operating loss.