More Manufacturer Woes - Nissan

[blueline]

As a continuation to some of the other less than pleasant auto manufacturer reports, the following is being reported today by Motor1.com. If true, it's dire. The article suggests Nissan may sell a majority stake to Honda.

https://www.motor1.com/news/742467/niss ... o-survive/

A few lines says it all:

Things aren't looking good at Nissan. Dealers are selling cars at a loss, production has slowed, and more recently, the company cut thousands of jobs and sold a third of its stake in Mitsubishi. But it all may have been too little too late.

"A new report suggests that the automaker's days are numbered. In an interview with the Financial Times, two unnamed Nissan executives said the company has "12 to 14 months to survive." "This is going to be tough. And in the end, we need Japan and the US to be generating cash," they said.

Nissan's North American headquarters is here in Nashville. Nissan sponsors the TN Titans and a LOT of other businesses and charities. Plus, there is the huge Nissan assembly & manufacturing facility here. Thousands of employees here, including a lot of execs. Unfortunately, Nissan has been sliding off the cliff for a good number of years so it's not good situation. Hopefully all resolves somehow but I am starting to have my doubts.

As many have said, shakeouts, consolidations and out right failures in the auto manufacturing world are on the doorstep.

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[Tom]

Not sure if this is related, but every time I've been in a modern Nissan recently, it feels like a noticeable step down in quality from other Japanese cars. I had an Altima as a rental a while ago, and it just seemed overly plastic inside. I remember thinking that America had caught up with at least some Japanese cars, as the Malibu I got the time before seemed better built. Not sure if bad cars created financial woes, or if financial woes created bad cars....

[blueline]

Not sure if this is related, but every time I've been in a modern Nissan recently, it feels like a noticeable step down in quality from other Japanese cars. I had an Altima as a rental a while ago, and it just seemed overly plastic inside. I remember thinking that America had caught up with at least some Japanese cars, as the Malibu I got the time before seemed better built. Not sure if bad cars created financial woes, or if financial woes created bad cars....

Absolutely.

Nissan has had a huge decline in quality over the past several decades. I have a decent background in dealing with the ACV (actual cash value) of regular vehicles (not high-end supercar types) of all makes going back to the 80s and Nissan has always been in the bottom tier. I hate to say this (it's undeservedly harsh and, obviously, hyperbole), but Nissans have become Yugo-like.

viewtopic.php?t=1697#p17693

I feel like Nissan started its big downhill slide when they ill-advisedly changed the name from Datsun. The Datsun cars and trucks we saw here in North America in the late 60s and 70s were well-made, dependable and cleanly styled. They, along with others such as Honda put American iron of the time to great shame.

[blueline]

Aston Martin's latest prognosis is not very cheery. I wonder how or if this will impact their F1 efforts? How long does Lawrence Stroll remain in charge as Aston's Executive Chairman?

SSO Report: "Aston Martin: Another Profit Warning and Another Cash Raise"

https://ssoreport.com/aml-raise-2024

Executive Chairman Stroll's rather famous quote from February 2022 when he stated: "Let me be crystal-clear, black-and-white: we do not need money." Since then, AML has raised about £970 million in equity. (That's in excess of $1.2 billion dollars.)