Nissan Group's U.S. sales maintained positive momentum — if only barely — for the second straight month as the automaker weans itself off high-volume, lower-margin fleet sales.
Combined Nissan and Infiniti U.S. sales inched 0.1 percent higher to 131,983 vehicles in May. Nissan Division continued its upswing by selling 121,570 vehicles, up 1.1 percent from May 2018. Infiniti sales slid again, falling 10 percent to 10,413 vehicles last month.
Nissan's focus is on "improving our dealers' business and the health of our dealer network," said Billy Hayes, division vice president for Nissan sales.
In a market heavily favoring crossovers, SUVs and pickups, Nissan brand's light-truck sales stalled last month, up 0.01 percent from a year earlier. For the year, the brand's truck sales are down 5.9 percent.
Demand for the Rogue compact crossover, Nissan's truck volume leader, tumbled 26 percent in May.
"It's a very competitive segment," Hayes said, adding that Nissan is working on a nationwide loyalty program for the Rogue this summer.
Nissan has added more technology features, such as ProPilot Assist and Safety Shield 360, as options for the Rogue's midtier trim, hoping to lure more buyers.
The Armada had the biggest surge of any Nissan nameplate, up 103 percent in May, a result of Nissan's efforts to increase awareness of the large SUV.
"It's a luxury vehicle that has off-road capability," Hayes said. "We've got the right offers out there. The value of the product is amazing."
The Armada is highlighted in Nissan's "Summer of SUVs" marketing event. The automaker is also taking a targeted approach with its advertising, identifying customers most likely to buy and reaching out to them across platforms.
"The segment isn't huge, so you've really got to fish for these customers where they are looking at their screens — whether the screen is a mobile phone or a computer," Hayes said.
On the sedan side, sales of the Versa rose 23 percent, in part because of a sell-down of the current model ahead of a redesign expected to arrive at dealerships this summer.
Maxima sales were down 42 percent, despite a freshening late last year. The large-sedan segment is declining and consumers are shifting toward crossovers and SUVs.
Infiniti U.S. car sales plummeted 43 percent in May, with truck sales alleviating the pain somewhat with an 8 percent uptick. For the year, Infiniti sedan sales are down 30 percent, while truck sales have dropped 3.4 percent.
In May, the luxury brand suffered year-over-year declines across all nameplates except the QX60 midsize crossover (up 10 percent) and QX80 large SUV (up 57 percent ). Sales of the brand's flagship, the redesigned QX50 compact crossover, fell 1.6 percent in May.
For the year, sales are down 5.9 percent for the QX50, on which Infiniti is counting heavily. Production hiccups and planning problems have hurt QX50 sales. Infiniti has added a trim level it says will make the vehicle appeal to a wider market. The QX50 lineup now includes a $42,000 Luxe variant with navigation system.
Brands: Nissan, up 1.1%; Infiniti, down 10%
Notable nameplates: Nissan Titan, down 16%; Nissan Maxima, down 42%; Nissan Altima, up 5.2%; Nissan Sentra, up 4%; Nissan Rogue, down 26%; Nissan Murano, down 4.2%; Infiniti QX50, down 1.6%; Infiniti QX60, up 10%.
Incentives: $3,554 per vehicle, down 3% from a year earlier, ALG says.
Average transaction price: $27,745, up 0.3% from a year earlier, according to ALG.
Quote: "I'm absolutely optimistic in the future, in the team and what we have going on with dealers," said Hayes.
Did you know? The Armada SUV had a 103 percent spike in U.S. sales in May, the highest of any Nissan nameplate.
