Nissan Posts Record 2015 Sales, Continues Fast Growth for 2016

Nissan continues to show rapid global growth backed by continued long-term success in North America. The closing of the 2015 fiscal year saw a record two million vehicles sold in this region while the company's March 2016 numbers showed continued growth in the U.S. with an 8.9 percent year-to-date uptick in sales.

In the United States, fiscal market shares were up in 2014 by 8.4 percent and continued that with an 8.6 percent growth for 2015. A similar share growth trend was seen in Canada and sales growth in Mexico completed a full growth chart for the long term in North America.

A combined all-time sales record of 2,009,119 units for FY 2015 put Nissan in second place among Asian nameplates in North America. This growth came after years of heavy capital investment and long-term planning which the company undertook as CEO Carlos Ghosn pressed for a more aggressive product lineup and strong long-term growth for the company. A big part of that investment was in regional manufacturing to replace what had become Japan-centric manufacturing at the company. This resulted in the company's plants in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Mexico growing quickly to become some of the largest manufacturing facilities in the world. Today, most Nissan product is built in the area that it's sold within and in the U.S. that means that its fastest-growing sector, trucks and SUVs, are all American made.

For March 2016, the greatest growth in product sales were in newly-introduced models like the Maxima and Murano as well as the Quest minivan as competition dropped from the segment. Commercial vehicle sales, specifically in the NV200 van, were also big market drivers in March. The Nissan Group, which includes premium brand Infiniti, reported double-digit sales growth in all segments including 11.9 percent in trucks and 13.4 percent in cars.