Nissan Eyeing 10% of U.S. Market Share

Nissan has stated that they are undertaking a very ambitious long-term goal. The Japan-based automaker would like to have 10 percent of the U.S. market share by the end of 2017. The origin of this goal is from a speech given at the Economic Club of Chicago in which Jose Munoz, the Executive Vice President of Nissan North America, told those on hand that his organization is being aggressive in terms of growth.

During the speech Munoz said, “I’m very confident were going (to see) steady growth in the (coming) years. We are shifting into the quality growth plan in order to maximize the quality of the service we provide our customers through our dealers. I worry about every single one. We also see it as a huge opportunity.”

That opportunity won’t come without fierce efforts on the part of Nissan. During the same speech Munoz said he realizes there are supreme challenges in this undertaking including competition from other automakers. At the ECC Munoz said, “The domestics are super strong, everyone is the enemy. You want the industry to be healthy. We think the market is going to continue to grow.” To reach their goal to get up to 10 percent of market share in the United States, Nissan will be ramping up production. That means plant changes and hiring more employees. The Detroit Bureau reports that Nissan has more than 22,000 employees, including 9,000 hired during the past four years.

Currently Nissan holds around 7 percent of the market share in the U.S. In 2014, the company set an annual sales record for the United States at 1.4 million vehicles sold. U.S. car sales were up 6.9 percent for the automaker during January of 2015. The Nissan Sentra, Altima and Leaf were among those models which displayed excellent sales numbers. Do you think that Nissan will succeed in their endeavor to take 10 percent of the U.S. market share? Will they be able to become stronger than Honda in the United States? How quickly are you able to move Used Nissans at your store?