Market Currents

• Tuesday, October 27, 2009

• 18:45 PM Ford (F) remains the only U.S. carmaker to attain top-10 status in Consumer Reports' much-anticipated yearly reliability survey, coming in at No. 10. Scion took top spot, followed by Honda (HMC), Toyota (TM) and Infiniti (NSANY). Least reliable brands: Chrysler, Cadillac, Dodge and Jeep. 3 Comments

• Thursday, October 1, 2009

• 14:08 PM Nissan (NSANY) September U.S. sales: -7% to 55,393 vehicles. Infiniti brand -15% to 6,610 units. Altima -24.3% to 12,149; Maxima +18.1% to 5,901. (PR) Comment!

• Monday, September 7, 2009

• 15:04 PM According to company insiders, Honda (HMC) will likely launch an all-electric car within a few years. Honda continues to believe that hybrids have the most promising future, noting key technologies for all-electric cars are still premature, but it's also worried about being left in the dust of GM, Toyota (TM), Nissan (NSANY) and others. 1 Comment

• Tuesday, September 1, 2009

• 14:16 PM Nissan (NSANY) August U.S. sales: -2.9% to 105,312 vehicles. Nissan brand vehicles +0.2% to 97,580; Infiniti -30.2% to 7,732. (PR) Comment!

• Thursday, August 27, 2009

• 14:30 PM Bank of America (BAC), Hyundai, American Express (AXP), Nissan (NSANY) and GE (GE) are all set to sell billions in debt through the TALF program, which has accounted for 62% of the $101B in asset-backed sales this year. Comment!

• Monday, August 3, 2009

• 15:30 PM Nissan (NSANY) July U.S. Sales: -24.6% to 71,847. Trucks -48.4% to 20,448. (PR) Comment!

• Sunday, August 2, 2009

• 16:09 PM Nissan (NSANY) unveils the Leaf, an electric car which gets 100 miles on a full charge. CEO Carlos Ghosn told reporters aggressive estimates that peg electric cars at 10% of all sales by 2020 are very doable. Nissan spent 17 years developing Leaf's lithium-ion battery, which it hopes will propel it into the biggest supplier of electric cars. 4 Comments

• Wednesday, July 29, 2009

• 09:55 AM Shares of Japanese carmakers are up after positive earnings surprises from Nissan and Honda, even as Japan retail sales fell for the 10th straight month. After months of falling sales and production cuts, Japan's auto industry seems to be benefiting from government cash-for-clunker incentives. HMC +6.1%. NSANY +2.8%. TM +1.3%. Comment!
• 06:48 AM Nissan (NSANY): FQ1 net loss of ¥16.5B vs. a net profit of ¥52.8B a year ago, and vs. consensus of -¥108.5B. Last quarter Nissan posted a ¥276.9B loss. Sales of ¥1.51T (-36%). Still sees full-year loss of ¥170B. Sources say Nissan will announce today a new China plant capable of producing 240,000 vehicles/year. (WSJ) Comment!

• Wednesday, July 1, 2009

• 13:06 PM Nissan (NSANY +1.6%) June sales: -23.1% to 58,298. "We have seen better traffic and an increase in the quality of customers during May and June," VP Al Castignetti says. (DJ) Comment!

• Tuesday, June 23, 2009

• 12:19 PM After stepping up as an early recipient of $1.6B in federal efficient-production loans, Nissan (NSANY) elaborates on its electric-car plans: unveiling a vehicle on Aug. 2 and producing more than 100,000 electric cars in the U.S. by 2012. Comment!
• 10:31 AM Ford (F +0.9%) to receive $5.9B in federal loans. Nissan (NSANY -2%) to get $1.6B. (Bloomberg) The news was expected, but the amounts were unknown. Comment!
• 07:43 AM The White House is expected to announce this morning that Ford (F), Nissan (NSANY) and Tesla Motors are among the first recipients in a $25B loan program to help automakers retool their factories to produce more fuel-efficient models. 5 Comments

• Monday, June 8, 2009

• 08:21 AM Hoping to get an early lead in the emissions-free auto market, Mitsubishi launches a compact, four-door electric car that will be marketed to corporate customers in Japan. Nissan (NSANY) plans to sell its own electric car starting in 2010. Comment!

• Tuesday, June 2, 2009

• 14:13 PM Nissan (NSANY +0.1%) May U.S. sales fell 33% to 68,489 (vs. consensus of -37%). (SmarTrend) Comment!

• Monday, June 1, 2009

• 08:25 AM Motor vehicle sales in Japan fell 19% in May, led by a 24% drop from Toyota (TM). Nissan (NSANY) sold 9.1% fewer units, while Honda (HMC) posted a 4.5% gain. Despite the decline, May's 19% drop was still markedly better than April's -29% and March's -32%. Comment!