BANGKOK: Nissan has reported a 20.2% year-on-year drop in vehicle sales to 257,110 units in 2014 for the Asia and Oceania region.
The sales plunge was largely due to Thailand, where sales fell by almost 40% to 59,220 units.
This reflected the poor performance or 33.7% drop in auto sales in Thailand last year, due to political issues, the end of excise rebates for first car buyers, and tighter loan approvals.
Also, in Malaysia, Nissan sales in 2014 fell by 22.3% to 43,210 units.
A statement from Nissan said sales in Malaysia was affected by the short supply of the Almera before a minor model change.
It should be noted that Nissan’s Asia and Oceania region does not include Japan, mainland China and India.
Meanwhile, Nissan noted that December 2014 highlights included steadily increasing NP300 Navara sales in Thailand and good response to the newly launched X-Trail with 1,900 bookings in six weeks.
The Datsun Go and Go+ were well accepted in Indonesia with more than 2,670 units sold, accounting for 17% of the market share for December in the low-cost, green car (LCGC) segment.
Both Datsun models also set best record with almost 3,000 bookings for December 2014 since their launches.
Korea and New Zealand set best December sales records of 860 units and 550 units respectively, with both driven by the all-new Qashqai, while Vietnam reported an all-time best monthly sales record of 360 units.
