Nissan blows by Honda in global automotive sales

[ZilviaBot]

01-30-2011 10:33 AM

pFiled under: a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/honda/" rel="tag"Honda/a, a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/nissan/" rel="tag"Nissan/a/pa href="http://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2011/01/nissan-surges-past-honda/"img alt="Nissan Badge" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/01/nissan-logo-370z.jpg" style="border-width:1px;border-style:solid;margin:4px 0px;width:630px;height:418px"/abrbrIn the U.S., the pecking order among Japanese automakers looks like this: Way out in front is a href="http://autoblog.com/make/toyota/"Toyota/a, followed by a href="http://autoblog.com/make/honda/"Honda/a and a href="http://autoblog.com/make/nissan/"Nissan/a respectively. On a global scale, however, Nissan has finally leapfrogged Honda for second banana status. a href="http://www.torquenews.com/108/nissan-passed-honda-total-global-sales"Torque News reports/a that Nissan's global sales soared 21 percent in 2010 due in part to exploding business in China. All told, Nissan moved 4.08 million units during the calendar year.brbrHonda also saw increased sales, but it managed only a five percent gain. That's 3.56 million vehicles sold, or about 500,000 fewer units than its rival. 2010 was a very solid year for Nissan, as well its alliance partner Renault, which also fared very well. Together the two automakers combined to sell 7.3 million cars and trucks. That's more than a href="http://autoblog.com/make/ford/"Ford/a or a href="http://autoblog.com/make/vw/"Volkswagen/a, though Renault-Nissan sales aren't officially counted together when the final rankings are tabulated at the end of the year. Toyota led all automaker sales for the year, followed by a href="http://autoblog.com/make/gm/"General Motors/a and VW.brbr[Source: a href="http://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2011/01/nissan-surges-past-honda/"The Detroit Bureau/a]p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both"a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2011/01/30/nissan-blows-by-honda-in-global-automotive-sales/"Nissan blows by Honda in global automotive sales/a originally appeared on a href="http://www.autoblog.com"Autoblog/a on Sun, 30 Jan 2011 11:33:00 EST. Please see our a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/"terms for use of feeds/a./ph6 style="clear:both;padding:8px 0 0 0;height:2px;font-size:1px;border:0;margin:0;padding:0"/h6a href="http://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2011/01/nissan-surges-past-honda/"Read/a*|*a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2011/01/30/nissan-blows-by-honda-in-global-automotive-sales/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry"Permalink/a*|*a href="http://www.autoblog.com/forward/19820633/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email"Email this/a*|*a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2011/01/30/nissan-blows-by-honda-in-global-automotive-sales/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry"Comments/apiframe src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~ah/f/jsicb7kgbrq2r9mumuej8u6iqc/468/60#http%3A%2F%2Fwww.autoblog.com%2F2011%2F01%2F30% 2Fnissan-blows-by-honda-in-global-automotive-sales%2F" width="100%" height="60" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0"/iframe/pdiva href="http://feeds.autoblog.com/~ff/weblogsinc/autoblog?a=Q7Eif3ux26Q:FuSlgjlIuQo:wF9xT3WuBAs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/weblogsinc/autoblog?i=Q7Eif3ux26Q:FuSlgjlIuQo:wF9xT3WuBAs" border="0"/a a href="http://feeds.autoblog.com/~ff/weblogsinc/autoblog?a=Q7Eif3ux26Q:FuSlgjlIuQo:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/weblogsinc/autoblog?i=Q7Eif3ux26Q:FuSlgjlIuQo:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/a/divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/autoblog/~4/Q7Eif3ux26Q" height="1" width="1"

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[ZilviaKid]

thats pretty sick, good for them

[drift freaq]

Order has been restored in the Automotive World. :D



Oh and some jackass will definitely call me a Nissan fanboy for this statement.

Honda lovers go the fuck home.

[simmode1]

Glad to hear this news. I appreciate Honda's engineering, but Nissan makes waaaay more exciting & versatile products than them now...

[thrax]

In the past Honda was claiming better quality but many of my friends had bought Hondas/Acuras in the early 1990s the same era i bought my 1993 and the long term reliability and maintenance of my Nissan to their cars was equivalent. So i guess that factor for Honda is no longer in play.

[raz0rbladez909]

Order has been restored in the Automotive World. :D



Oh and some jackass will definitely call me a Nissan fanboy for this statement.

Honda lovers go the fuck home.

Fanboy..........













I kid I kid lol Finally Nissan is doing something right, now all they need to do is scrap either the Maxima or Altima and throw something more fun into the mix that doesn't look like all their other cars. hehe I dunno how Honda even surpassed Nissan in the first place, after dropping the S2000 their line-up looks almost as bland as Toyota's

[simmode1]

I kid I kid lol Finally Nissan is doing something right, now all they need to do is scrap either the Maxima or Altima and throw something more fun into the mix that doesn't look like all their other cars.
Ummm... No. I vote keep the Altima and Maxima. They're great in their position/demographic. I say cut the Juke/Cube/Versa and either the Rouge or Murano...

[drift freaq]

Ummm... No. I vote keep the Altima and Maxima. They're great in their position/demographic. I say cut the Juke/Cube/Versa and either the Rouge or Murano...


The Versa needs a redo, I drove one as a rental and it was one of the most mundane cars I have driven in years. It literally is a point a to point b car that gets good gas mileage and nothing else.



Juke and Cube? Big mistake to ax either of these. Cube's are great cars. Have you driven one? I have and its a fantastic car for its segment. Beats the shit out of XB's and the Soul. Juke while it needs some possible cosmetic correction is actually a great car as well.
Oh and their is a segment that will take to the Juke like ducks to water.

Rogue and Murano I really do not know what to say. I am not a Sport UTE fan and crossovers to me are just a bizarre segment. Oh and this was a segment that Nissan actually created. They were the first to do it.
So take that for whats it worth. It may not work in your eyes or my eyes but people seem to buy them.

[raz0rbladez909]

Ummm... No. I vote keep the Altima and Maxima. They're great in their position/demographic. I say cut the Juke/Cube/Versa and either the Rouge or Murano...

While I agree with the axing the juke, I just think that the Altima and Maxima are way too similar cars, they try to market the Maxima as their 4DSC(4 door sports car) and they have the SE-r(I'm not sure if they still have it) version of the Altima which both have the same damn engine. Like this from one article "Maxima, whose base price is about $1,000 more than the topline Altima, is less than one inch longer than Altima; less than three inches wider and weighs only 201 pounds more. Maxima's engine (again, a 3.5-liter V6) packs 290 horses vs. Altima's 270."

Read more: Nissan Altima -- less than a Maxima, but not by much : Top Down Auto Blog (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/topdown/detail?entry_id=39141#ixzz1Cei8Ngd9)

To me it just seems like they added an unnecessary car to the bunch, the Maxima is that car, if you're looking for luxury in a Nissan you buy an Infiniti, not Nissans chubby fwd wannabe sports car.

[simmode1]

I agree that it seems crazy to have the topline Altima and the Maxima so similar, but I think the lower level Altimas have a strong hold on their segment of the demographic. But my ex had a 3.5L Altima and I liked it alot, so I guess it's not sooo crazy.

Maxima is needed to compete against the Accord and Avalon. The Altima is needed to compete against Camry, which explains why Nissan offers an optional V6. Nissan needs those two cars. There my be nice little niches for Juke and Cube, I just don't care for them much personally. I can see where the Cube fits into the market though, but I'm confused on the Juke...

[upsdude]

hey dave, YOU FANBOY!! hahah j/k i mean we're all fanboys if you think about it...or else we wouldn't be on this site. anyhow the altima and maxima is the bread and butter for nissan...big mistake to axe those.

[simmode1]

Maybe you're one, but being on Zilvia doesn't automatically make you a fanboy.

[upsdude]

lol didnt know the word fanboy was so offensive u ppl crack me up

[simmode1]

Yeah, it's about as offensive as calling someone a ricer, IMO. 'Fanboy' implies fanatical devotion to a singular subject.

I can't speak for anyone else here, but I know I'm not so one dimensional as to be fanatically devoted to Nissan or 240's. More like whatever performs best & conforms to my ideals while fitting in my budget. That could be 240's, Miata's, MR2's, Z32's, SC400's, FC's or... whatever. I try not to limit myself.

[DreamN]

Cube <3



:fruit:

[h2v7]

juke motor in the 240?

[ronmcdon]

hehe I dunno how Honda even surpassed Nissan in the first place, after dropping the S2000 their line-up looks almost as bland as Toyota's

Toyota is doing something right if they're #1.
Looking bland probably isn't such an important determinant in sales figures.
S2k's are cool and all, but they're not the models that are usually popular in sales.

I'd be great to see the particular models from Nissan that contribute to huge sales figures.
(it sure as hell ain't the Z & the GTR, although they might help bring ppl into the showroom).

Hondas look boring, but the 'bread & butter' Nissans like the Versa/Sentra/Altima/Maxima (what I'd presume to be popular sales) aren't exactly cutting edge designs either.
In terms of driving enjoyment, I'd take the current Accord/Civic over the Altima/Sentra anyday
I have test drove them all & owned a 08 civic si.

[simmode1]

In terms of driving enjoyment, I'd take the current Accord/Civic over the Altima/Sentra anyday
Asking me which of these FWD cars I'd consider buying is like asking me which prison inmate I'd like to be raped by today... Answer: None. But the my ex's Altima definently made me a believer in the VQ35. Gotta get one for the S13 now...

[drift freaq]

Hondas look boring, but the 'bread & butter' Nissans like the Versa/Sentra/Altima/Maxima (what I'd presume to be popular sales) aren't exactly cutting edge designs either.
In terms of driving enjoyment, I'd take the current Accord/Civic over the Altima/Sentra anyday
I have test drove them all & owned a 08 civic si.

I'd take a Cube before any of the above. It has a unique look that I have grown accustom to and it drives great and is very solidly built and very comfortable.

I have driven Civic/Accords and I just can't get my head around the whole Honda thing. Maybe its psychological but I think a lot of people can identify with that. I would own a Ford Focus or Fiesta before I would own a Honda econobox.

Honestly, I think a lot of people looking at cars in that category could give a rats ass, about how fun the car is to drive. Or even how good it looks. Their main concerns are enough power, and gas mileage, followed by reliability.

Nissan would not be selling Versa's on looks or how it drives.

Oh and don't even get me started about the ugliness of a Yaris, lol yet Toyota sells a ton of them.

Cubes? yes but like I said earlier the Cube package just has so many things done right for exactly what it is.

American XB owners need to understand Nissan create that segment. The BB came after the Cube in Japan.
I digress though.

For the most part I put up with FWD cars for one reason and one reason only GAS MILEAGE. Basically if you want killer gas mileage then you are going to be driving a FWD car.
Not to say RWD could be there its just manufacturers put all there gas idea's towards the FWD cars. All the RWD cars being sold are either larger with a bigger engine or Sports oriented.

It would be amazing to see a manufacturer turn out a small RWD(non roadster, hehe aka Miata) car that got great gas mileage. Though the days of that kind of thing are pretty much over.

[ronmcdon]

Ok, lets say for the sake of discussion, 'reliability, mileage, and power' are the most important determinants of sales figures.
Exactly how much different are Toyotas, Hondas, and Nissans in those regards?

I thought all three brands were pretty solid on all 3 counts.
Well...I'm not sure about Nissans being reliable, but that probably reflects my own bias.

idk if I can agree that how a car looks is not important.
Lot of purchases are pretty much emotional buys that rely on whether or not the potential likes the visual design, and the image it brings.

About FWD, I'm personally pretty content as long as the car drives well.
I'm reluctant to bash just because it's FWD.
For everyday driving, I can honestly say I don't mind as long as the suspension's not too soft.
For track driving & autoX, FWD might not be optimal, but at least it's predictable and almost always easy to push.

Not saying FWD is good enough for all, but I think it's fine for 90% of ppl looking for a car.

Would be great if there's a roadster that's actually cheap.
Have no idea how Mazda is still selling the Miata at over $22k.

[drift freaq]

Ok, lets say for the sake of discussion, 'reliability, mileage, and power' are the most important determinants of sales figures.
Exactly how much different are Toyotas, Hondas, and Nissans in those regards?

I thought all three brands were pretty solid on all 3 counts.
Well...I'm not sure about Nissans being reliable, but that probably reflects my own bias.

idk if I can agree that how a car looks is not important.
Lot of purchases are pretty much emotional buys that rely on whether or not the potential likes the visual design, and the image it brings.

About FWD, I'm personally pretty content as long as the car drives well.
I'm reluctant to bash just because it's FWD.
For everyday driving, I can honestly say I don't mind as long as the suspension's not too soft.
For track driving & autoX, FWD might not be optimal, but at least it's predictable and almost always easy to push.

Not saying FWD is good enough for all, but I think it's fine for 90% of ppl looking for a car.

Would be great if there's a roadster that's actually cheap.
Have no idea how Mazda is still selling the Miata at over $22k.

Ok to a certain extent Toyota, Nissan , Honda are neck in neck in reliability with Toyota possibly edging out Nissan and Honda. Thing is all makes have their quirks even Toyota. Nothing is infallible. As an expert I know in Semiconductor manufacturing would say , "It's not a question of will there be defect its a question of how it is handled"
In other words when it comes to manufacturing there is always a chance of a defects nothing is perfect 100% of the time. Its a question as to how the manufacturer chooses to address the issue. How is the quality control? ETC..

Toyota showed us in the last year or so while they are excellent in build quality they actually do have problems from time to time and they handled it poorly at first.
Nissan has shown it as well, except that for the most part they warrantied everything on a pretty liberal basis rather than deny it. Point for them.

Honda has not had issues of its own in the past as well. So there no manufacturer is infallible.
In fact S2k shred diffs like they are made of butter.


Now on looks you are speaking about yourself. Considering you are here and you are an enthusiast you hold looks to be a little more important than average econobox buyer. Which is what we are talking about.
If the car looks ok to a lot of them then they are happy. It does not have to be sexy, cute, etc...
Tell me a Yaris is good looking? LOL Yet Toyota sells a ton of them. Same goes for Nissan with the Versa.

Now your opinion on FWD is like the average driver who was most likely raised on FWD. I.E. mom and dad owned a FWD car. These people learned to drive with these cars and get comfortable with torque steer and how the FWD car drives.

Now if you were raised on all RWD cars, then FWD drive sucks in a lot of ways. Torque steer is annoying and with more HP you get more of it. The only way to combat it is to run a LSD which adds costs to the car.

On top of that in certain driving situations FWD is the absolute enemy because once it goes you don't get it back. In a RWD car you drive out of the situation nearly 99% of the time.
Granted in inclement weather FWD can have its edge but it still has the ghastly demon hanging around.

When I rolled my G20 last summer it would not have happened, if I had been driving a RWD car at the time. Once the rear end stepped out to much and the front went It was ok here we go, no amount of trying to correct through steering input was going to help the situaion, The rear end stepped the front went and caught and into the blue I went. LOL
Trust me I tried my damnest to pull it back. The implicit nature of FWD was not going to help.


In a RWD drive car I would have gassed it corrected and powered out of the situation with my rear wheels taking control.
Oh and I don't recommend you try what I went through to see if it does not happen to you. LOL

And yes it is amazing Mazda still sells Miata's at 22k especially since they have become bigger, uglier and heavier.
It was a incrediable deal at 15k when it first came out. Very reminiscent of the phenomena of the 240Z at 4k. in 1970.

[simmode1]

Now if you were raised on all RWD cars, then FWD drive sucks in a lot of ways. Torque steer is annoying and with more HP you get more of it. The only way to combat it is to run a LSD which adds costs to the car.

On top of that in certain driving situations FWD is the absolute enemy because once it goes you don't get it back. In a RWD car you drive out of the situation nearly 99% of the time.
Granted in inclement weather FWD can have its edge but it still has the ghastly demon hanging around.

When I rolled my G20 last summer it would not have happened, if I had been driving a RWD car at the time. Once the rear end stepped out to much and the front went It was ok here we go, no amount of trying to correct through steering input was going to help the situaion, The rear end stepped the front went and caught and into the blue I went. LOL
Trust me I tried my damnest to pull it back. The implicit nature of FWD was not going to help.


In a RWD drive car I would have gassed it corrected and powered out of the situation with my rear wheels taking control.
Oh and I don't recommend you try what I went through to see if it does not happen to you. LOL
Precisely what I keep trying to explain to my FWD Honda loving friend. Honda has some nice sporty cars in their lineups, but the inherent nature of FWD will always keep me running away. Thankfully, some drunk asshole totaled his Civic while it was parked and now my friend has a 323is. I keep hoping he will someday learn the glory of RWD and steering by throttle, but he keeps stubbornly hanging on to the retarded idea that FWD is superior and creates superior drivers. At that point, I stop listening.

[Wookie384]

Now your opinion on FWD is like the average driver who was most likely raised on FWD. I.E. mom and dad owned a FWD car. These people learned to drive with these cars and get comfortable with torque steer and how the FWD car drives.

Now if you were raised on all RWD cars, then FWD drive sucks in a lot of ways. Torque steer is annoying and with more HP you get more of it. The only way to combat it is to run a LSD which adds costs to the car.

On top of that in certain driving situations FWD is the absolute enemy because once it goes you don't get it back. In a RWD car you drive out of the situation nearly 99% of the time.
Granted in inclement weather FWD can have its edge but it still has the ghastly demon hanging around.

When I rolled my G20 last summer it would not have happened, if I had been driving a RWD car at the time. Once the rear end stepped out to much and the front went It was ok here we go, no amount of trying to correct through steering input was going to help the situaion, The rear end stepped the front went and caught and into the blue I went. LOL
Trust me I tried my damnest to pull it back. The implicit nature of FWD was not going to help.


In a RWD drive car I would have gassed it corrected and powered out of the situation with my rear wheels taking control.
Oh and I don't recommend you try what I went through to see if it does not happen to you. LOL

And yes it is amazing Mazda still sells Miata's at 22k especially since they have become bigger, uglier and heavier.
It was a incrediable deal at 15k when it first came out. Very reminiscent of the phenomena of the 240Z at 4k. in 1970.


Okay, this is going off topic, but before it goes back onto topic I have to put my two cents in...

Actually I'll agree torque steer can sometimes be a pain in the ass, but in all other aspects you are wrong. If/when you have a FWD and the rear steps out it's actually easier to recover (both at the amateur and professional level), that's why they recommend starting out at FWD then moving up to RWD, then up to MR/4WD.


Precisely what I keep trying to explain to my FWD Honda loving friend. Honda has some nice sporty cars in their lineups, but the inherent nature of FWD will always keep me running away. Thankfully, some drunk asshole totaled his Civic while it was parked and now my friend has a 323is. I keep hoping he will someday learn the glory of RWD and steering by throttle, but he keeps stubbornly hanging on to the retarded idea that FWD is superior and creates superior drivers. At that point, I stop listening.

Have you ever lifted off the throttle while cornering on an Integra Type-R or any other Civic/Integra with a factory rear sway bar? Stock for stock I'd take the Integra over an S13.

[drift freaq]

Okay, this is going off topic, but before it goes back onto topic I have to put my two cents in...

Actually I'll agree torque steer can sometimes be a pain in the ass, but in all other aspects you are wrong. If/when you have a FWD and the rear steps out it's actually easier to recover (both at the amateur and professional level), that's why they recommend starting out at FWD then moving up to RWD, then up to MR/4WD.




Have you ever lifted off the throttle while cornering on an Integra Type-R or any other Civic/Integra with a factory rear sway bar? Stock for stock I'd take the Integra over an S13.


Ah no Kevin you are wrong. I have much more driving experience than you have and know very well of what I speak of. I suggest that since all you usually drive is FWD till you get your S13 running and drivable you have no idea of what you speak of. Trust me RWD is a lot easier to control when the rear end steps.

Oh and if you love the Integra so much why do you even own a S13. Oh wait that whole other subject that should not be addressed here.

Now please go back to the topic.

[DreamN]

I <3 Cube

:lockd:

[BOROSUN]

fanboy here... since 91, i fell inlove with a red z32.

go nissan

[Wookie384]

Ah no Kevin you are wrong. I have much more driving experience than you have and know very well of what I speak of. I suggest that since all you usually drive is FWD till you get your S13 running and drivable you have no idea of what you speak of. Trust me RWD is a lot easier to control when the rear end steps.

Oh and if you love the Integra so much why do you even own a S13. Oh wait that whole other subject that should not be addressed here.

Now please go back to the topic.

Uhh No, My first car was a 81 Toyota Corolla, I learned how to drive in my Uncle's 91 Toyota Pick up, and I drove those cars for years until I got my current car, and I'm going back to RWD because I miss it.

Let me get this straight? You say FWD is harder to drive, and since I stick to FWD I'm a less knowledgeable driver than you?

So in theory if one can drive an FWD better than you could, does that make them a better driver than you by default?

[simmode1]

Uhh No, My first car was a 81 Toyota Corolla, I learned how to drive in my Uncle's 91 Toyota Pick up, and I drove those cars for years until I got my current car, and I'm going back to RWD because I miss it.

Let me get this straight? You say FWD is harder to drive, and since I stick to FWD I'm a less knowledgeable driver than you?

So in theory if one can drive an FWD better than you could, does that make them a better driver than you by default?
God, thats the same argument my buddy makes about his damned Civic's and shit. What? Do you guys get these comebacks out of a handbook or something?

Neither platform will automatically make anyone a better driver. If you suck, then you suck. But FWD was some inherent drawbacks that FR's don't have to worry about.

[TougeLove]

my 89 240 still runs fine, my wifes 91 civic still runs fine, both with 150k miles. i believe this matter is too big with too many subcategories and not enough genuine proof, especially to argue over the internet. thats just silly.

[SlideKing92]

The cube is going to stop being produced (or imported to the US) so if you love the cube get it now!

Nissan rocks and always will! nuff said

[jumboflan]

RWD wins every situation. But sometimes when someone comes from an entire( short experience for some here) experience on FWD then you are bound to get some fail moments.If you don't know how to handle a skid from wet weather or whatever and a slight curve. you'll 180 and spin out everytime. this happened to my co-worker in the mid early 90's he told me he was just a teenageer and didn't know how to steer out a skid. He braked and his buick grand national. wrecked on the highway. It happened again to my brother's worker early last year. He did not know how to handle a slight curve in the road (highway)and wet weather. He braked and didn't apply throttle. He got scared...short story... he ate a wall, tore the front passenger shock tower off. So, I know of two people who at it in RWD cause they were used to FWD cars their whole lives.

[driftertim]

Wet situations and a locked (even open diff ) rear end can put an experienced driver in a wall as well, not that experience is not key, even going off throttle harshly can send the read end shifting out in rwd. Its when you have experience n can predict the cars moves.