LETTER FROM CEO LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT AND CEO A public company has two key responsibilities to its shareholders: transparency and value creation. At Nissan, transparency is essential to our business. Especially in uncertain times, it builds trust between a company and its shareholders. And we believe transparency is the best way to encourage long-term investment in our company. But transparency is not yet universal. Nissan is still one of the few large corporations that publicly disclose future business plans, performance indicators, commitments and future dividends. We trust that these measures give shareholders a clear view of our company’s future direction. From the start of the Nissan Revival Plan (NRP) in 1999, we have created value by focusing on key value drivers—particularly sales growth, operating profit margin, and return on invested capital.  By the end of fiscal 2001 we exceeded our NRP commitments by returning Nissan to profit one year ahead of schedule, halving the company’s debt and over-delivering on our commitment to achieve a 4.5 percent operating profit margin. Following NRP, we launched a three-year business plan called NISSAN 180. By the end of the plan in fiscal 2004, we committed to achieve the following: Profit: Nissan will maintain the top level of operating profit margin among global automakers for each of the three years of the plan. Operating profit remains at the center of our management system, as it is the most accurate measure of business performance.  As with our previous business plans, NISSAN Value-Up establishes three core commitments. They are ambitious, and will require us to stretch our capabilities. But they  are realistic.  The Nissan revival story is now complete. Our next  three-year business plan, ‘NISSAN Value-Up,’ is focused, as its name suggests, on delivering sustainable long-term value to all our stakeholders. As such, it is evolutionary  not revolutionary. Consolidated net revenues reached ¥8 trillion 576.3 billion, up 15.4 percent from last year. Consolidated operating profit improved by 4.4 percent to a record ¥861.2 billion. As a percentage of net revenue, our operating profit margin came to 10 percent, which remains at the top level among global automakers. And our net income reached ¥512.3 billion, or ¥125.16 per share, compared to ¥122.02 per share for the previous fiscal year. Nissan lived up to its challenges in fiscal 2004, despite a very challenging year in the global industry, full of risks both anticipated and unexpected. Review of 2004 NISSAN Value-Up Nissan Annual Report 2004 2 • An increase in global sales of 1 million units, compared to the start of the plan. We are confident of meeting this final commitment by the end of the measurement period in September 2005. • An 8 percent operating profit margin. For every year of the NISSAN 180 plan our operating margin has been at or above 10 percent topping the performance of all global automakers. • Zero net automotive debt. We now have more than ¥200 billion in net cash under the new and more demanding accounting standards.