to export parts and components from Thailand worldwide, which will result in a great cost advantage. We see more opportunities in Malaysia and Indonesia as well. Two other interesting countries for us are India and Pakistan, which NISSAN Value-Up identifies as next steps in our global expansion. Currently, Pakistan’s auto market totals just 100,000 vehicles a year, while in India annual sales are 1.2 million. Both markets are expected to grow. This year, we will determine our strategies for India and Pakistan based on feasibility studies. We’ve already established a wholly owned subsidiary in Mumbai that will first focus on imports and later serve as a base camp to learn more about the market in India. Perhaps the biggest news for GOM in Asia was the summer 2005 launch of the Infiniti in Korea. This is the first-ever launch of the full brand independent of Nissan’s sales network and outside of the U.S. Korea is a good- sized market and a good first step in Infiniti’s development as a globally recognized luxury brand. Although we have set a modest annual sales target of just 5,000 vehicles within three years, Korea will be a strategic market for establishing the Infiniti brand before the scheduled launches in Russia, China, and eventually Japan.  Southeast Asia is also a major emerging market for Nissan. We have reinforced our strength with a solid strategy in the region, and are now ready to invest.” Fiscal 2005 will be challenging because we have no major model launches planned. We’re committed to growth, however, and I believe that having a clear strategy for each market and a targeted approach to the customer will boost our market position throughout the region.  Thailand is an important market for Nissan’s future. Although we sell just over 50,000 vehicles a year there,  we plan to increase sales volume under NISSAN Value-Up. We’re also expanding production capacity and planning to localize Thailand as an export base for Pickups. We intend Nissan Annual Report 2004 66 In the past, we left local sales up to our sales affiliates in each market. However, we’ve recently altered our strategy in an effort to unify the brand and service level. Emphasizing the importance of consistency to the sales companies has made it much easier to promote the Nissan way of doing business. We have also increased our shares in local companies, such as in Thailand and Taiwan, to strengthen management control.  with sales of 70,000 and 63,000 units, respectively. Australia’s auto market was particularly good for us— we’re now the number-four automaker there. Strong demand for the Nissan Pickup and X-TRAIL was responsible for the jump in sales. Although there were no new passenger car releases, the dealers did an excellent job selling the current lineup.  “General Overseas Markets oversees a huge territory, including countries as diverse and geographically separated as Pakistan and Tahiti. Fiscal 2004 was a good year for us in GOM, with retail sales going up more than 10 percent. All our major markets exhibited growth. Taiwan and Australia were the biggest contributors YASUAKI HASHIMOTO Vice President A Solid Strategy for Growth Asia/Oceania GENERAL OVERSEAS MARKETS OUR WORLD PICKUP Infiniti in Korea