Will Nissan eventually fail or…?
Posted by earlyiteration@reddit | cars | View on Reddit | 36 comments
I think most of us that follow this subreddit knows how lackluster sales have been for Nissan for quite some time now. It stems from their questionable reliability, no lack of hybrids/EVs, or just simply a compelling vehicle in its competing market. Recently, they’re refreshing their entire lineup and possibly releasing more electrified and better looking/performing vehicles in the next couple of years. Is it little too late for them to get back up top? Are there higher chances of them failing now since they are investing a lot of R&D into multiple vehicles since they’re refreshing majority of their lineup around close timelines?
NotoriousCFR@reddit
I love when reddit nerds take the nissan bad/big altima energy memes too seriously.
It doesn't matter that the Rogue is not as "good" as a CX5 or a CRV by whatever completely irrelevant metric car "enthusiasts" are using that nobody else gives a fuck about. They're cheaper than the competition, the company will finance anything dextrous enough to drag a pen across a piece of paper, and even if they stopped selling to individuals tomorrow I imagine Enterprise would still give them enough sales to keep them in business. They're no more going out of business than Burger King.
GodsFavoriteDegen@reddit
I wonder how many times I've eaten Burger King in a Nissan product.
I was in the market a while back for a ~$35,000 Japanese commuter sedan. That's the Camry, the new Prius, the Legacy, the Mazda3, the Civic (maybe Accord), and the Altima. Maybe I'm missing something. I've had a good bit of Scotch.
My only real dealbreaker options were leather and a heated steering wheel. That eliminated the Hondas. I have a personal affection for Subaru, but their cars are just ugly to me. The Mazda3 is a great car, but it feels narrow. The Prius was unobtainable.
The closest Camry in the trim level that had those options (the... XLE?) was five hours away. I stopped at a local dealer and drove a lower trim level. It was... fine. It seemed kind of loud and I wasn't crazy about the interior. But, it's just the thing that I drive into the city, and it's a Toyota so I'll be mildly and non-specifically dissatisfied with owning it for many trouble-free years.
On the way home to call the Toyota dealer five hours away to tell him that I'll be down the next day, I stopped at the Nissan dealer. "Leather and the heated steering wheel is in the SL. I have nine of them on the lot, and sixteen more at our other dealers. What color do you want?"
It's a fine car so far. I had the body shop remove the front bumper skin and apply a death metal band sticker of the sandblasting guy's choosing to the trunk lid, and I've been learning how to pass on the shoulder.
Lucky_Chainsaw@reddit
I believe that Nissan will resurrect now that they finally stopped Renault leeching off them with recent agreements.
Sweet-Historian-3621@reddit
No
longgamma@reddit
This topic is what many car channels pick up during dry spells to make a lazy 15 minute video. As if we keyboard warriors in r/cars driving shitboxes have any idea about the future of Nissan.
SwiftCEO@reddit
And this question gets asked every month…
Drzhivago138@reddit
And frequently asked about Stellantis, and sometimes Ford, GM, Subaru, Hyundai/Kia, Toyota...sometimes I get the feeling this sub wants every car brand to fail for unknown reasons.
Maleficent_Lab_8291@reddit
No-no-no, this sub is VERY vocal about why car companies should fail: no manual-only gear boxes; no more good ol’ 7L V8s; screens, screens!1 everywhere; cars more complex and much cheaper; and just not making good cars like the used to (like in good ol’ days, when the sky was bluer and grass was greener). You know, usual circlejerk but unironic
Drzhivago138@reddit
Pretty much. Of all the brands, Stellantis might be the most in danger, but it's not for the reason this sub usually gives (THEY TOOK AWAY THE VEE-ATE!!!1!!)
hi_im_bored13@reddit
Don’t forget about hating any sort of driver assistance
NotoriousCFR@reddit
In /r/cars paradise, every car company except Mazda has gone out of business, and everybody is required by law to drive a brown manuelle miat
RacerM53@reddit
They just want to see their hero fail
guy_incognito784@reddit
Can you ask it next month?
earlyiteration@reddit (OP)
I agree but I have been thinking about this topic all the time even though I don’t currently own any Nissan products. Just really curious what others that are more familiar with have to say.
longgamma@reddit
Why do you even care if you don’t ever plan on buying from them? Aren’t you contributing to their supposed demise ?
Bluecolt@reddit
Not who you asked but my unsolicited take - I've never owned a Nissan product and don't plan to either, but if for some reason I ever needed a small pickup as a second vehicle I would consider the Nissan Frontier. Looks like a decent affordable competitor in it's segment and I would've want to see it dissappear. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it or anything, but more competition between auto makers is usually a good thing.
longgamma@reddit
This sub has a hate boner for Nissan and Subaru and idk why. Look at the flair of the OP and do you think someone who drives around a 911 thinks about the future of fucking Nissan on a weekday ?
earlyiteration@reddit (OP)
I said I don’t currently own one doesn’t mean I have not nor will I own one in the future…
myreddithandleyo@reddit
Ooh. This is a timely post. I've been considering importing a skyline, and hadn't thought about parts availability if they DO flop. The aftermarket has a lot of stuff, bit some things are best left to oems
V8-Turbo-Hybrid@reddit
They probably would shut down Infiniti brand and let Mitsubishi Motor leaving some markets in first if they’re really facing very worse condition.
Drzhivago138@reddit
They've been in a slump since their 2017 high of almost 1.6M, but last year at just shy of 900K was an almost 25% improvement over 2022.
LimitedReach@reddit
I can explain most of the sales slump.
In 2019 when new CEO Makoto Uchida came in, he focused on quality of North America sales by reducing the rental percentage from 30% to around 15% and reducing global production. Carlos’s strategy was market share, regardless of how you got (high percentage of fleet sales, high incentives, subprime financing)
Nissan has also discontinued several models (Rogue Sport, Titan, Maxima, Juke, NV van) since 2017.
2020 onwards, they dealt with the pandemic and chip shortage woes and has never recovered, sales wise.
They finally recovered in 2023 but had no hybrids in the time when the market demanded them. It’s hard selling a Rogue when RAV4 and CR-V exist, Pathfinder when Pilot and Grand Highlander exist, etc.
I think they’ll have some recovery next year with the new models.
maxxor6868@reddit
That their own problem though. Who would've thought making unreliable cars and give it to drivers who drive without insurance would not harm their pr at all...
pele4096@reddit
Nissan Motors Acceptance Corp (NMAC) their financing arm will give money to anyone with a pulse and above room temperature credit score.
They still produce cars with big Altima energy.
Like the SMALLtima (Sentra)
The TALLtima (Murano)
The HAULtima (Frontier and Titan)
The MALLtima (Pathfinder and Armada)
The Rock CRAWLtima (XTerra)
They'll be fine.
Emotional-Royal8944@reddit
The trend to go away from V-6 and V-8 power plants across all manufacturers is disheartening, Nissan is all on board with this trend in favor of 3 and 4 cylinder turbos. Maybe they’ll get the hint when sales decline. I know it’s all about fuel economy but the 2.5 liter Altima gets great gas mileage
tpknight2@reddit
If Nissan stops making vehicles, what will the drunk drivers and insurance dodgers drive and crash into everything? Altima’s and Rogue’s are the most durable pieces of shit on the road!
urtechhatesyou@reddit
As someone whose owned a Nissan, I cannot bring myself to own yet another Nissan.
TravelingBySail@reddit
My 2001 Frontier got 348,000 miles before I had to trade it in. I give them a thumbs up 👍
mustangfan12@reddit
I think Nissan does have a decent lineup. It's much better than Dodge's or Mitsubishi's. Nissan will keep on surviving, and they also have targeted the subprime market and are doing well at it. They also have fleet sales to keep them in. As long as they have lots of different cars for sale they'll be fine
AtomWorker@reddit
The alliance with Renault and the early CVT fiasco hit them hard. Targeting the subprime market isn't helping matters. That said, I don't think their lineup is all that bad. A few models are long in the tooth, but they've got a offering to match Honda and Toyota in every category. I'd argue their biggest blunder was squandering the head start they had with the Leaf.
humdizzle@reddit
subprime lending.
Dazzling-Rooster2103@reddit
Nothing from them interests me, but I know there is a huge subprime market that they are active in.
Lots of people in rough patches in their lives need a car to get to work regardless of how good or bad it is, they just need transportation. And that's where Nissan, and Mitsubishi come in. Very easy to get approval at high rates, but it's a need.
The US doesn't have nearly good enough public transportation in 99.9% of the country to allow people to live without a car.
Spicywolff@reddit
I don’t see them failing anytime soon. It seems they’ve kind of settled into the subprime higher than Mitsubishi lower than the rest of Japanese manufacturers.
They probably make a lot of money on Nissan financing . Sing as if you have a pulse in our legal age, you get a car loan to them pretty terrible rates. But they’ll get that payment where you need to be.
That said the qualities in the absolute crapper . They’ve really fallen far from the grace they used to have in the 80s and 90s. Heck even early 2000 they were pretty OK.
New_Inside3001@reddit
Aa long as they can produce cheap cars with good financing deals they won’t fail
It’s the story of every brand in its segment, brands like fiat definitely haven’t stayed afloat till now because of great value or build quality.. it’s cheap
R-K-Tekt@reddit
I think they’ve got an uphill battle but they’re in it for the long haul. I think a refresh of their god ugly car lineup and moving away from their crappy CVT transmissions would do wonders. I mean think of it this way, there will always be demand for BIG NISSAN ENERGY
Tnargkiller@reddit
My understanding is that Nissan has oriented itself towards the subprime market.
Unless the next admin goes big on commuter rail and bus/trams, where a large enough percentage of people can just ride public transport, there will always be a subprime market which needs to buy a car.