Nissan chief says US car sales to pick up by 2003
One of the motor industry’s leading figures has predicted that the decline in US automobile sales in 2002 will not nearly be so severe as some pundits have predicted.
Speaking on French television last week, Carlos Ghosn, Chief Executive of Nissan Motor Company said the market would pick up by 2003 at the latest. "I do not think the 2002 market will decline sharply in the US - I think 2002 should show a slight decline ... compared to 2001," he said.
"There should be a pick-up at the latest in 2003 in the American automobile market," he said, adding that the carmaking sector had so far escaped the worst effects of the global economic slowdown.
Known as ‘Le Cost Killer’, Ghosn was seconded to Nissan from Renault SA after the French firm purchased a 36.8% stake in the Japanese brand. He commented that but for the drop in market confidence following the September 11 terrorist attacks, Nissan would have revised its US profits forecast upwards.
