Nissan Reports a 9.0 Percent Increase In Sales

– Just Released Nissan Xterra, Crew Cab Pickup, Maxima Add to Sales Momentum –

CARSON, Calif. – Thanks to strong early sales of the hottest products in the light truck market, Nissan Division of Nissan North America, Inc. (NNA), posted May sales of 53,219 units, an increase of 9.0 percent versus last year.

With the all-new Nissan Crew Cab pickup and Nissan Xterra SUV, total Nissan division truck sales for May were 18,208 units – a 49.3 percent increase compared to last year. The Nissan Crew Cab posted sales of 1,334 units and the Nissan Xterra had sales of 794 units, despite limited availability. Pathfinder sales for May were 5,515 units, a 23.9 percent increase over last year.

The Nissan Quest had another strong sales month since the launch of the all-new four-door model last November. With sales of 4,318 units in May, Quest turned in an impressive increase of 299.8 percent over last year.

With 12,321 units sold, Nissan's flagship sedan, Maxima, showed an equally impressive increase of 41.8 percent over the previous year.

The Altima sedan, Nissan's volume sales leader, reported sales of 16,461 units, a 22.1 percent increase versus last month. Sentra sales totaled 6,046 units in May, down 24.2 percent versus last year as this model reaches the end of its life cycle.

"Our all-new Maxima, Xterra and Crew Cab pickup are just out of the gate and the response has been overwhelming. I am confident that the strong sales momentum will continue as the inventory of these hot new products are increased at our dealer showrooms," said Jed Connelly, vice president and general manager of the Nissan division.

"I am also pleased that the teamsters strike appears to have been averted and I'm confident that our strong, new products will have no problems getting to the dealerships," said Connelly. Sales of Nissan's North American-produced vehicles for May totaled 35,326 units, which represents 66.4 percent of all Nissan vehicles sold in the United States.

Nissan North America, Inc. sales for May, including Nissan and Infiniti Divisions, totaled 58,357 units, a 10.1 percent increase versus last year.