Nissan Motor Co. on Monday launched its first fully redesigned Skyline sports sedan in five years in a bid to halt declining domestic sales.
"In Japan, buyers continue to opt for minicars. But we believe it is important to spur demand for sedans by introducing attractive cars like the redesigned Skyline," Toshiyuki Shiga, Nissan's chief operating officer, said at a news conference at the company's headquarters in Tokyo's Ginza district.
"I hope a new wave (of sales) comes with the arrival of the remodeled sedan."
Nissan hopes to sell 1,000 of its flagship Skyline sedans a month in Japan and 50,000 a year in North America under the Infiniti G35 badge.
The new Skyline, equipped with a 2.5- or 3.5-liter V-6 engine, costs 2.79 million yen to 3.8 million yen. Nissan is already selling the new model in South Korea and Taiwan and plans to introduce it in Canada, China and Russia by the end of March.
The new model is lower to the ground, as are the seats. It has a longer nose and larger wheels to give the car a sportier look.
Nissan aims to boost sales with eight more new or redesigned models in the second half of the fiscal year.
So far, it has released one new model, the Otti.
Nissan's domestic sales fell for the 12th month in a row in September as its lineup showed signs of age.
For the six months to Sept. 30, domestic sales slid 16.9 percent to 350,000 vehicles, compared with the same period last year. In the U.S., sales fell 10.2 percent from a year ago to 513,000 vehicles.