S. This has partially continued during the 90s as well, so protectionist barriers is one of the things Nissan needs to consider when exporting to its main partners. There are two different actions Nissan may consider in the future in this sense. The first one refers to the fact that Renault, an European company, still holds a significant part of Nissan shares, which may facilitate exports on the European market. On the other hand, trade barriers can generally be avoided by direct implementation in the respective country, a measure which Japanese companies, especially Toyota, have successfully applied in the U.S. during the 80s.

2. Internal competencies

A. General Motor seems to be currently both the most important producer and the sales leader. However, this should come with several amendments. If we are referring to the market leader, there are several criteria worth mentioning. First of all, the number of cars being sold, but also the overall income, totaling the volume of sales. Additionally, production figures are not necessarily relevant figures, because sometimes a company can produce and fail to sell.

B. Nissan has successfully implemented quality norms over the years, both in terms of safety and technological activities and in terms of design. There are several examples as for the company's concern for the customers' safety when driving a Nissan. The latest safety inventions, mentioned on the company's website, are the active headrest and the SRS Curtain Airbag System. The former provides security developments for the back of the head in case of an impact, while the latter brings additional components to the traditional airbag system. As for technological achievements, the XTRONIC CVT-M6 seems the most notable, as "the world's first steel-belt."

So, in this sense, Nissan has provided the customer...

Nissan strongly benefits in this sense from its partnership/ownership with Renault, who ensures part of the parts distribution. As for service, it is common knowledge today that much of a company's income does not necessarily come from vehicle sales, but from related services. In this sense, we are not only referring to post-sale service, but also to financing deals or providing purchasing consultancy (in the case of companies who want to purchase a higher number of vehicles, for example). Nissan is no exception in this case. With a strong network of closely correlated service providers, it ensures high post-sale performance.
D. In terms of financial performance and growth indicators, the consolidated income of statement, as well as most of the financial data for the first half of 2004, has shown encouraging progress and ascending trends. We will be having a brief look at the most important figures. As such, the net sales in the first half of 2004 totaled 4.007.942 million Yen. Comparing this to the 3.556.249 million Yen achieved in the first half of 2003, the net sales increased by 12.7%. If we look at the amount by which the cost of sales have increased, 17.5%, the overall operating income increased, however, by only 0.57%. The ordinary income and the net income trends show generally the same low growth trends.

Bibliography

http://www.nissan-global.com/EN / www.oanda.com http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/COMPANY/MESSAGE/index.html

FX Exchange information at www.oanda.com. http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/SAFETY/INTRODUCTION/index.html

Information from the Internet, at http://www.nissan-global.com/EN