Nissan "Can Double Middle East Share"

Nissan has the potential to double its market share in the Middle East but needs to offer the consumer more smaller and cheaper cars, Renault-Nissan president and CEO Carlos Ghosn said.

“I think we are far, far from our potential,” said Ghosn, who was in the Emirati capital, Abu Dhabi, to launch a new version of Nissan’s Patrol SUV. “I’m looking for doubling the market share in the Middle East.”

“One of the reasons ... we’re not maximising market share is we don’t have enough small cars, and cheaper cars,” he said.
He expects Nissan to be debt-free by the end of 2010.

Small, inexpensive cars based on the company’s V-Platform, which will be launched in Geneva next month, will be key to addressing this shortage, he said, adding they would be “very well” priced for everyone.

Ghosn, who is head of both Nissan and France’s Renault, said the company looked “very favourably” on a plan to build a factory for Renault in Algeria but declined to say when a decision will be made.

On 13 February 2010, the auto maker launched a new version of its Patrol model, designed specifically for the Middle East region in a bid to meet demand. The four-wheel drive will go on sale across the Arab region in April 2010. - Gulf Times