CHIBA, Japan, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Nissan Motor is confident it can protect its profitability in the face of both poor U.S. demand and a strong yen, although it is currently using only 60-70 percent of its North American output capacity, executives said on Wednesday.
Nissan may start exporting to such "dollar countries" as the Middle East from the United States to help it cope with these issues, which would mean replacing shipments from Japan, Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn told reporters.
"I don't think the U.S. use of capacity is a headache for us, because not only it's going to serve for the United States but also for exports," he said at a media roundtable.
"I have absolutely no worry about the use of capacity in the United States."
Without such exports, Nissan would need the U.S. market to total 10.5 million vehicles in annual sales for its North American business to be profitable, Executive Vice President Carlos Tavares said.
The U.S. market is widely expected to reach that figure this year, but that would be down sharply from 16.2 million units in 2007 and 13.2 million last year.
"Our plants are at a point where we can be profitable with a total U.S. market of 10.5 million vehicles," Tavares told a small group of reporters on the sidelines of the Tokyo Motor Show.
He said so far in 2009 Nissan had managed to keep its market share in the United States unchanged from last year without the use of heavy, profit-eroding sales incentives.
Tavares also said the firm's North American profitability would not be affected even if the dollar weakened against the Japanese currency to 80 yen.
"We have been preparing (for currency swings), and among the three (top) Japanese (carmakers) I would say we are the most advanced," Tavares said, noting Nissan's strategy of seeking low-cost sources for parts procurement around the world.
On Wednesday, the dollar was trading around 90.80 yen. Earlier this month, the greenback fell near its January low of 87.10 yen, which was the lowest since 1995.
FRUITS IN Q2
Nissan Chief Operating Officer Toshiyuki Shiga said he could not comment on where results would land for the financial first half that ended on Sept. 30. But he noted that various emergency cost-cutting measures continued to bear fruit after the company reported a surprise profit in the April-June quarter.
"We're seeing the fruits of the steps we've taken," Shiga told a small group of reporters, naming among them reductions in labour and other fixed costs.
Shiga noted that Nissan's global sales had also turned up in September versus the year-earlier month, thanks largely to faster-than-expected growth in China, the world's biggest auto market.
But he cautioned that the sales growth around the world was being supported heavily by government incentives, and that there was a risk that the industry could hit a second bottom when these ran out.
"There are big fears in the industry for this possibility," Shiga said.
Nissan shares closed down 1.0 percent at 666 yen, while shares of Nissan's French partner Renault were down 4.2 percent at 35.2350 euros. Ghosn is also head of Renault. (Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim and Yumiko Nishitani; Editing by Hugh Lawson)