The Japanese marques hopes that the worst is now over.
Nissan has revealed second-quarter sales for its full lineup, as well as for its luxury arm, Infiniti, and the results are disappointing overall. Then again, in the context of a new vehicle market that’s at the mercy of supply constraints and the ongoing chip shortage, Nissan’s numbers are not shocking. With the all-new Z sports car and delayed Ariya EV yet to make an impact on the sales charts, Nissan’s second-quarter sales totaled 183,171 units, including Infiniti. This represents a drop of 38.6% relative to the same period in 2021. The latest Pathfinder tallied the best jump in sales, but most of the brand’s sedans saw alarming drops.
Nissan’s top-selling model in Q2 was the Rogue with 42,440 units sold, despite a 55.6% decline relative to the same period in 2021. It was followed by the Altima with 40,315 sales (+34.8%), the Frontier (20,761, up 33%), the Sentra (17,244, down 57.5%), the Pathfinder (15,303, up 229.3%), the Kicks (14,023, down 28.2%), and the Murano (7,396, down 52.3%).
It was clearly a tough quarter for Nissan sedans. The Versa’s position as the cheapest sedan in the country didn’t seem to matter as sales tumbled by 82.6% in Q2 to only 3,296 units. The large Maxima was even worse off, with sales plummeting by 82.9% to 884 units, even though it’s rated as one of the best cars to own based on multiple studies.
Nissan’s full-size pickup, the Titan, registered 4,797 sales in Q2, a drop of 53.5% and far behind the class leaders in this segment. Nissan’s inability to compete in this corner of the market has led to reports that the Titan will be discontinued entirely in 2024.
The Japanese brand’s luxury arm, Infiniti, saw a 41% drop in sales in Q2, with the biggest loser being the QX50 which found only 2,112 buyers, down by 71.2%. No far behind is the Q50 at 1,288 units, a drop of 69.2%. On the other hand, the much-improved 2022 Infiniti QX60 is a rare highlight for the brand. Its Q2 sales jumped to 3,245 units, an increase of 227.4%.
“We’re selling whatever we have, but we’re at an extremely low day supply,” Judy Wheeler, Nissan division vice president of sales and regional operations in the U.S., told Automotive News a few days ago. Wheeler suggested that inventories will begin improving from August.
