Nissan has fallen out of the top ten best-selling automobile brands globally for the first time in 16 years.
According to Nikkei Asia, the Japanese automaker’s 1.61 million global vehicle sales in the first six months of 2025 – as reported by Nissan – placed it outside the top ten for the first time since 2009.
Japanese brand Suzuki, which doesn’t compete in the huge US market but has a strong presence in Japan and India, edged Nissan out of the top ten by only 20,000 sales.
The small car specialist reported sales of 1.63 million vehicles in the first half of the year, to finish ahead of its home market rival for the first time in more than two decades.
Toyota remained the world’s largest car brand in volume terms, reporting 5.16 million sales to the end of June 2025, ahead of the Volkswagen Group’s 4.36 million tally.
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BYD was the best-selling Chinese brand, according to Car News China, with 2.146 million sales ahead of SAIC Group – which owns MG – on 2.05 million, both well ahead of Nissan.
Nissan’s sales were down 5.7 per cent compared to 1.7 million units in the first half of 2024, with lower numbers in key markets including China, the US and Japan.
In Australia, Nissan sold 20,604 vehicles in the first half of 2025, a 17.3 per cent year-on-year drop, placing it eleventh ahead of Subaru but behind the likes of Isuzu Ute, MG, GWM and BYD.
Globally, Nissan posted a ¥15.7 billion ($1.63 billion) loss for the April-June quarter, and recorded its fourth consecutive quarterly decline.
Current Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa took over the role in April, replacing Makoto Uchida.
Mounting losses have forced the automaker to announce the closure of six factories, the axing of 11,000 jobs from its global workforce, and the delay of several new model programs.
It has been affected by volatility in the crucial US market, where automotive import tariffs introduced in April 2025 have been joined by a parts tariff.
Nissan is far from alone in being impacted by US tariffs, however, with the American ‘Big 3’ – GM, Ford and Stellantis – all posting losses in the second quarter of 2025.