Struggling Japanese automaker Nissan said Thursday it was on the “path to recovery” even as it reported a hefty $690-million loss for the second quarter.
The results “reflect the challenges we face, yet they confirm that Nissan is firmly on the path to recovery”, chief executive Ivan Espinosa said.
“The second half will bring its own hurdles, but with focus, discipline, and the actions underway, I am confident we will deliver stronger results,” he said in a statement.
Last week Nissan had warned that it would suffer an operating loss of 275 billion yen ($1.8 billion) in its fiscal year to March.
Espinosa told reporters on Thursday that without the impact of US tariffs on imports of Japanese cars, it would break even at the operating level.
Nissan posted a second-quarter net loss of 106 billion yen ($690 million) and an operating profit of 52 billion yen. Sales fell 3.8 percent.
Nissan has faced numerous speed bumps, including the 2018 arrest of former boss Carlos Ghosn, who later fled Japan concealed in an audio equipment box.
A merger with Japanese rival Honda had been seen as a potential lifeline, but talks collapsed in February when the latter proposed making Nissan a subsidiary.
Of Japan’s major automakers, Nissan was seen by analysts as likely to be the most severely hit by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Trade officials in July reached a deal that saw the United States lower tariffs on Japanese goods to 15 percent from a threatened 25 percent.
Japanese cars were taxed at a higher rate of 27.5 percent and the reduction to 15 percent did not take effect until mid-September.
Japan’s US-bound car exports slumped 24 percent year-on-year in value in September, a major blow for an automotive sector that accounts for around eight percent of jobs in the Asian nation.
Nissan’s larger rival Toyota on Wednesday hiked its operating income and net profit forecasts for the current fiscal year despite the tariffs.>
