brand awareness. The Teana represents the first step, symbolizing the excellence of our product and reputation to the public. Despite a tough market in 2004, DFL sold 66,000 DFL-produced Nissan-branded passenger vehicles in the first half of 2005 alone. This was a result of the new lineup, our strong brand image, and a creative pricing strategy. Based on the first-half sales results, DFL has moved to ninth among automakers in China. Our target for this year is to sell close to 170,000 Nissan-branded passenger vehicles. DFL will produce 140,000 of those, which is more than double last year’s sales, and approximately 30,000 will be Zhenzhou-produced vehicles and imported vehicles. We also estimate sales of roughly 100,000 DFL-produced light commercial vehicles. It’s a big challenge, but we’re very confident of achieving this.  There are risks in China, but that is true of any market. Today, I see the country as a regular market for Nissan. The most serious ones are heavy competition, exchange rate fluctuations and possible increased macroeconomic control by the government. To minimize these risks and maximize our opportunities, we rely on two basic strategies: stay market-driven, and turn out excellent products. DFL has the product, sales network, factories and R&D essential to succeeding in this market.  I believe the opportunities in China far outweigh the risks. Despite heightened political tensions last year, orders and dealer traffic remained steady. DFL has set a sales target of 300,000 Nissan-brand passenger vehicles in fiscal 2007. We also began construction on a new engine factory in Huadu that will have a capacity of 300,000 engines per year. This provides new opportunities for cooperation with Renault and increases our localization level to nearly 80 percent.  One of the reasons for DFL’s success is that we manage the company based on mid- and long-term plans. In 2004, we developed and implemented strategies for DFL, such as brand building with the Teana. Based on that foundation, we brought more products to market, such as the Tiida in 2005. These cars are targeted at a segment that has huge potential. Given China’s own potential, we foresee significant overall growth in the long term. We have set high targets for NISSAN Value-Up and I am confident that we will achieve them.  Nissan has set the standard for establishing operations in China. Now we’re analyzing the market as we have done elsewhere. We want to understand the customer and the market better so that we can deliver excellent products. With this approach, we will succeed in the emerging market of China.” FUGA TEANA TIIDA Nissan Annual Report 2004 65 OUR WORLD