Report: Nissan Expects 8% Drop in Future Sales in China

Nissan Motor Co. now expects its China venture with Dongfeng Motor Corp. will sell 2.39 million vehicles in 2022, down 8% from its estimate late last year, sources tell Bloomberg News.

China’s overall passenger vehicle market shrank 6% to 22.7 million vehicles, its first contraction in 25 years. Nissan’s sales in the country, including imports, rose 3% to 1.56 million units last year.

But analysts say new-car demand in China may stall or decline again this year. The new Nissan sales outlook Bloomberg cites comes less than seven months after Reuters reported that the carmaker was ready to spend $900 million to hike capacity in China 40% by 2021.

But by last December, Reuters reported that Nissan was preparing instead to trim output by 30,000 vehicles in January-February because of the slumping market. China has contributed about 25% of Nissan’s worldwide volume in recent years.