YOKOHAMA (Nov 7): Nissan Motor Co Ltd on Monday said its sales growth in the world's two biggest auto markets is likely slow in the near term as consumer tax breaks end in China while US tastes move away from the automaker's main area of focus. Sales in China in the six-month period grew 3.8% from a year prior, and Nissan's head of operations in the country, Jun Seki, expects double-digit sales growth for calendar 2016, aided by economic incentives aimed at stimulating demand. Nissan also said recent growth in China's auto market was due mainly to rising demand for local brands. But it said demand growth was peaking and that any additional growth had been limited by its dependence on sales of sedans, at a time when low fuel prices had boosted demand for petrol-guzzling sport utility vehicles. Earlier, Nissan said yen strength was responsible for July-September operating profit falling 19% to 163.9 billion yen — a result that still beat the 154.5 billion yen average of 10 estimates from analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S/.

Source: The Edge Markets November 07, 2016 13:37 UTC