text: “Nissan’s performance in 
  
  Japan in 2004 was solid. 
  
  Profit rose 1.4 percent and 
  
  our market share went up 
  
  0.4 percent to 14.6 percent. 
  
  Launching six new models in 
  
  the second half boosted our 
  
  results dramatically: we 
  
  registered a 1.1 percent 
  
  increase in market share 
  
  K A Z U H I K O T O I D A 
  Senior Vice President 
  over the previous period. 
  
  And for the first time in 19 
  
  years we had four cars—the Tiida, Note, March and 
  
  Cube—in the top ten. 
  
  Our steady growth has continued into 2005, 
  
  powered by positive customer response to both the 
  
  Murano and Tiida. These are the kinds of attractive, 
  
  unique products that have an immediate impact on 
  
  consumers. We’ve also strengthened our position 
  
  in the important small car market, and plan to 
  
  augment that with the launch of the Otti, an OEM 
  
  project with Mitsubishi, and the Moco, an OEM 
  
  product with Suzuki. While we do need to raise our 
  
  game in the SUV market, our overall coverage has 
  
  improved recently. 