Nissan sales improve 21 per cent over year-earlier period

Nissan outpaced most of its competitors in November, posting a U.S. sales increase of 21 percent compared with the same month last year, with major gains in its Altima car and Frontier pickup leading the way.
Of the major U.S. and Asian automakers, Franklin-based Nissan North America Inc. had the second-best percentage increase for the month, tallying sales of 56,288 vehicles in November versus 46,605 a year ago. The total included Nissan and its Infiniti luxury brand.

The only manufacturer with a better percentage jump was South Korea's Hyundai, up 34 percent with total sales of 46,002 vehicles (including Hyundai's Kia subsidiary).

Among the U.S. domestic automakers, Ford Motor Co.'s sales were up less than 1 percent for the month, while General Motors posted a 2 percent decline that beat analysts' expectations and halted slides of double digits that had persisted throughout the year.

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Shortly after reporting its November sales, though, GM announced that Fritz Henderson, the company's president and chief executive officer, was resigning after eight months on the job.

GM Chairman Ed Whitacre, the former head of AT&T, said he would take over the CEO post temporarily while the company looks for a new president and chief executive.

Henderson took over March 30 when the federal government's automotive task force forced former Chief Executive Rick Wagoner to resign as part of the federal bailout of the company.

Some analysts said the move to replace Henderson was not entirely unexpected.

"Ed Whitacre was the government's choice to lead the company, and the automotive task force always appeared lukewarm about the idea of Fritz staying in the top job" after GM exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in early July, said Edmunds.com senior analyst Michelle Krebs.

"In recent months, the board and Henderson appeared as if they were not on the same page," Krebs added. "Henderson wanted to sell Opel; the board overruled, keeping the European company."

The 11th-hour failure of GM's sale of Saturn to auto racing legend Roger Penske and the possibility that the sale of Saab won't materialize "suggested to the board that Henderson couldn't get the job done," Krebs said.

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