Nissan CEO breaks down how it plans to fight back against Chinese companies, after second outlook cut in months

Nissan Motor plans to expand exports of vehicles developed in China to help compete against Chinese rivals globally, CEO Ivan Espinosa told CNBC on Wednesday.

The export push comes as intensifying competition in the world's largest auto market forced the company to cut its annual sales forecast for a second time in months.

Espinosa said Nissan would rapidly increase its exports of China-developed vehicles from two models to five, targeting 12 regional market clusters in the "very near term."

The Japanese automaker is responding to intensifying competition in China by developing vehicles specifically for Chinese consumers, using local technology, lower costs and faster development processes, he said.

"We can defend ourselves from these very aggressive players by using exactly the same elements that they have: speed, cost, and good technology," he told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe."

China headwinds

Nissan faces weakening demand and an accelerating shift toward electric vehicles in China, even as its restructuring efforts show progress in the U.S. and Japan.

On Wednesday, Nissan cut its global sales outlook for the fiscal year ending March 2027 to between 2.97 million and 3 million vehicles, down from 3.15 million previously. It maintained its full-year operating profit and net cash guidance.

In China, "weaker demand, a faster-than-anticipated shift to [new energy vehicles] and intensifying competition are putting greater pressure on sales than initially anticipated," the company said in a statement.

In August, Nissan revised its full-year sales volume outlook from 3.3 million units to 3.15 million units.

In October, shares of peer Volvo Cars crashed after it reported a swing to operating loss, citing tough market conditions in China and the U.S.

CEO Håkan Samuelsson told CNBC at the time that it needed a new strategy in China, with regionally adapted cars.

"It's really a lot about the Chinese market, of course, where the change has come faster than we thought, and really now we can see that selling global cars developed in Europe and China will not work, and then this is affecting all the Western players in China," Samuelsson said.

On Wednesday, Nissan also reported a 96% drop in second-quarter operating profit to 2.1 billion yen ($13 million), significantly below analyst expectations of 54.9 billion yen, according to FactSet.

The drop in profits was due to no longer having the benefit of lower U.S. emissions-related expenses that boosted profits a year ago, the company said.

Net revenue grew 8.2% to 3.1 trillion yen in the quarter, largely in line with consensus.

The quarterly results came after the Tokyo market closed. Shares are down 29% year-to-date.

Espinosa, who has led the company since April 2025, also emphasised progress on a turnaround plan to reduce its global manufacturing footprint and cut its workforce by 15%. About 18 months into the plan, the company has achieved 365 billion yen in savings, Espinosa said.