Nissan News from Japan

08/21/96

Nissan to Cut Polypropylene Purchases by 75%

Comline has reported that Nissan Motor hopes to make a 75% reduction in the number of polypropylene products it purchases by 1998. Polypropylene comprises a majority of the plastics the company uses. Nissan aims to reduce development and production costs by streamlining its number of product types.

Nissan uses about 5,000 tons of polypropylene--an essential material in bumpers and interior panels--each year, including 23 different types of polypropylene. The company will streamline parts with similar properties, decreasing the number of polypropylenes to 6. In the future, Nissan will consider further reducing its polypropylene types to 2. Plastics make up nearly 30% of the materials cost for each car, the highest rate after steel plates. Streamlining plastic product types will simplify the production process, and reduce the cost of ordering, warehouse management, and distribution.

Nissan Diesel Will Boost Mid-Size Truck Production

Nikkei English News has reported that Nissan Diesel Motor Co. has said it will build 6,400 four-ton midsize trucks by the end of the first fiscal half in September. That figure represents a 10% rise over the initial production projection. Industry analysts say that higher production is likely to intensify price competition.

Demand is currently weak for big trucks in Japan, but Nissan Diesel thinks it can take a lead in the recovering midsize truck market. Nissan Diesel's truck plants plant to increase the number of working days in August and September and they will schedule 1.5-hours of overtime per day.

Between April and July the company held a 17.5% share in the truck market. That figure was down 1 percent from what it had been during the same period a year earlier.

Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel