Nissan Annual Report 200412
FISCAL YEAR 2004 FINANCIAL REVIEW
NISSAN REPORTED A RECORD YEAR IN TERMS OF REVENUES, OPERATING INCOME, NET INCOME, 
SALES AND PRODUCTION VOLUME IN FISCAL 2004. NISSAN ACHIEVED TWO OF ITS THREE COMMITMENTS
FOR NISSAN 180: AN 8 PERCENT OPERATING PROFIT MARGIN AND ZERO NET AUTOMOTIVE DEBT. 
THE REMAINING COMMITMENT IS THE ACHIEVEMENT OF ONE MILLION ADDITIONAL UNIT SALES. 
AT MID-YEAR 2005, GLOBAL SALES AT 1,809,000 UNITS WERE SLIGHTLY AHEAD OF THE COMMITMENT TO
REACH 3,597,000 UNITS BY THE END OF SEPTEMBER 2005.
PERFORMANCE
Net Sales
Consolidated net sales came to ¥8,576.3 billion, up 15.4
percent from last year. A higher volume and mix had a
positive impact of ¥707.0 billion. Movements in foreign
exchange rates produced a negative impact of ¥173.0
billion. Changes in the scope of consolidation, including
Dongfeng Motor and Yulon Nissan Motor, raised revenues
by ¥432.0 billion.
Operating Income
Consolidated operating profit improved by 4.4 percent from
last year to a record ¥861.2 billion. This resulted in an
operating profit margin of 10.0 percent. Operating profit
was affected by the following factors:
• The effect of foreign exchange rates produced a ¥78
billion negative impact for the full year. The
depreciation of the U.S. dollar against the yen resulted
in a negative impact of ¥74 billion, with an additional
¥13 billion from other currencies. The appreciation of
the euro resulted in a positive impact of ¥9 billion.
• The change in the scope of consolidation produced 
a positive impact of ¥31 billion. This was primarily
from the consolidation of Dongfeng Motor and Yulon
Nissan Motor.
• The impact of the higher volume and mix contributed
¥284 billion. This was mainly driven by an increase in
U.S. sales volume.
• Selling expenses increased by ¥114 billion, also
mainly due to the increase of sales in the U.S.
• The improvement in purchasing costs amounted to
¥131 billion.
• Product enrichment and the cost of regulations had 
a negative impact of ¥92 billion.
• An additional ¥44 billion was allocated to R&D to
reinforce product and technology development.
• Cost reductions from manufacturing efficiencies were
offset by costs associated with expanding the Canton
plant’s capacity, which resulted in a ¥15 billion
increase in manufacturing and logistics expenses.
• Warranty costs increased by ¥41 billion, partly due to
greater volume.
• General, administrative and other expenses increased
by ¥25.7 billion.
By region, operating profits in Japan came to ¥341.1
billion, a decrease of 3.2 percent compared to last year.
This was mainly due to unfavorable exchange rate
fluctuations and an increase in R&D expenses, which
reached a record level. 
Due to higher volumes, profitability in the U.S. and
Canada increased 7.9 percent from last year and totaled 
¥379.7 billion. 
Operating profit in Europe was ¥56 billion, an increase
of 13.8 percent compared to last year, owing to a better
mix and higher contributions from Russia. 
In General Overseas Markets, including Mexico,
operating profits came to ¥84.8 billion, an increase of 28.5
percent compared to last year. This was primarily due to the
consolidation of Dongfeng Motor and Yulon Nissan Motor.
Inter-regional eliminations were negative ¥0.4 billion.