Nissan has seemingly been immune to the sales crunch so many other automakers have been experiencing, so it comes as some surprise that the Japanese automaker announced yesterday that it is scaling back production of its until recently strong-selling Altima and just-launched Maxima. The cuts come in response to a 40 percent fall off in Altima sales and lukewarm reception to the Maxima.
Nissan will produce 4,250 fewer Altima sedans, coupes and hybrids in 2008 than the automaker had intended and it’s reducing Maxima production by 900 units – a fairly large number given Nissan’s relatively low sales expectations for its flagship sedan.
As other automakers continually post dramatically reduced sales, Nissan had been posting good numbers thanks to strong Altima, Versa and Sentra sales. The automaker hasn’t announced any cuts for the smaller models and most analysts predict that 2009 will be a decent year for the automaker. Nissan was one of the first to put a focus on small, efficient cars with upscale features and that gamble has paid off as gas prices increased.
“The cars themselves, particularly Altima, are not selling badly in relation to the rest of the industry,” said Haig Stoddard of industry analyst Global Insight. “But demand for a lot of typically strong sellers will be down simply because the overall market is drying up.”
Nissan doesn’t seem too concerned by the cuts.
“It was a tough month of economic factors for everybody,” Katherine Zachary, a spokeswoman for Nissan North America, told Automotive News.
