Nissan-Renault see more record sales in 2012

With a host of fresh products and demand set to grow in all markets except Europe -- where Ghosn predicts a three percent drop in sales this year -- both the Japanese and French carmakers should continue to expand sales beyond the records set in 2011, he said.

"I'm foreseeing another record year for the alliance in 2012," Ghosn told reporters on the sidelines of the Detroit auto show.

The results put Nissan-Renault within sight of German rival Volkswagen, which posted sales of 8.13 million vehicles and is hoping to overtake Toyota and General Motors for the top global spot.

"Are we going to go faster or slower than other car manufacturers, I cannot tell you," Ghosn said.

"The problem is not to be number one, number two, number three. The important thing is to get the scale.

"When you have eight million cars, scale is not the problem for you. The only challenge you have is making sure that scale works for you."

Nissan's sales rose 14.4 percent to 4.67 million vehicles worldwide in 2011 while Renault's sales were up 4.6 percent at 2.72 million vehicles, he said.

Russia's Avetovaz, part of the alliance, posted a 12 percent gain to 638,000 vehicles.

"I'm pretty confident Nissan is going to have very strong growth in 2012," Ghosn said.

"I'm also confident that Renault will be able -- even though Europe is going to be tough -- to improve its performance. I think Russia also is going to be a big opportunity so Avetovaz should also progress."

Nissan-Renault has been working to expand its stake in Avetovaz from 25 percent to 50 percent, something Ghosn told AFP would "most likely" be achieved in the first quarter of this year.

Ghosn also predicted further consolidation in the global automotive industry.

"We are an industry which needs scale. Scale is not going to substitute talent, but talent alone is not going to make it," Ghosn told the Automotive News World Congress.

"We're going to need to work together because we know that mergers and acquisitions don't work in our industry."

While Nissan-Renault has now reached the economies of scale necessary to compete in the global automotive industry, Ghosn said it is always open to new ties with other carmakers.

"Anybody can call and say 'I have a new proposal for you.' We'll always listen," Ghosn said.

"There are plenty of opportunities in the world where we're going to have new frontiers."

India -- where the alliance holds just one percent market share -- is a major target for growth.

"We're going to be introducing a lot of very ultra-low-cost cars," Ghosn said, noting that production is ramping up there and the Dost small pickup truck is doing very well with an eight percent market share in its segment.

"We are very encouraged that coming with the right product, we can make big inroads," Ghosn said.

Southeast Asia -- where the alliance is increasing capacity in Indonesia and Thailand -- "is going to be another priority," he said, adding there is also plenty of room to grow in Africa.

Renault will soon launch an offensive in China and "leverage Nissan's experience and best practices to begin manufacturing operations in the world's largest car market," he said.

China is Nissan's biggest market and it has increased sales there from 40,000 units in 2002 to 1.25 million in 2011 in partnership with Dongfeng.

The record-setting sales by Japan's second-largest automaker in 2011 were remarkable given the disruptions caused by the devastating March quake and tsunami, Ghosn said.

Nissan's supplies were not as badly hit as those of Toyota and Honda, but its factories were still impacted, and Ghosn admitted Nissan is now suffering from a bit of a perception problem.

Nissan managed to get its production up to 80 percent of capacity by mid-May and had fully recovered by September.

Honda and Toyota -- which took much longer to recover -- will be able to post stronger sales growth in 2012 when compared to 2011's depressed levels.

"Maybe I'll have less of an advantage than people who suffered more from the quake, but I still consider 2012 as an opportunity for us because hopefully some of these headwinds will settle," Ghosn said.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2012