Toyota is the dominant Japanese brand here in the U.S., and it's a very similar story in Europe. Nissan had been the dominant brand in Europe until 1998, when the company began struggling financially. But now, Nissan offers a fresh lineup of products that have quickly become hot sellers. As the Geneva Motor Show kicks off this week, Nissan also made it clear that it's aiming for Toyota's market share.
“It is our ambition to overtake (Toyota),” Simon Thomas, Nissan’s senior vice president for sales and marketing, told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview.
Although Toyota is still in the lead by a healthy margin, the tide has changed. Last year, Toyota’s European market share dipped to 4.6%, perhaps in part to negative publicity involving sweeping recalls. In 2010, Nissan had a 3.3% market share, which it has increased to 3.6% in recent months. While gaining market share, Nissan also beat its own sales target of 520,000 sales in Europe through March of this year. Nissan even hit 555,000 by December.
“A car maker that allows its model range to age and finds itself in a falling market really has to dig deep on incentives,” Thomas added. “We are driving showroom traffic through new products, and that way we save on sales and marketing expense.”
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