Nissan’s top salesman in Europe says the mood is “calm” at the automaker as the company gets closer to passing rival Toyota as Europe’s top-selling Asian brand this year.
“It’s relatively calm because no one wants to become complacent,” Nissan Europe Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing Guillaume Cartier told Automotive News Europe.
Through eight months Nissan led Toyota 373,692 to 372,035, according to data from European auto industry association ACEA. The last time Nissan topped Toyota in European registrations was 1997.
While he referred to Nissan’s current lead over Toyota as a “nice headline” he said that the company is focused on a bigger goal.
“The objective is to have a 5 percent market share in Europe and to sell 1 million cars” in Nissan’s 2016 fiscal year that ends on March 31, 2017, Cartier said.
He said that if he achieves those two objectives by then and Nissan is not the Europe’s top-selling Asian brand he will be, “OK.”
He also realizes that Toyota is not going to stand still, so neither will he.
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“Our competitors are coming,” Cartier said. “Am I more relaxed or less busy than I was six months ago? Not at all.”
