TOKYO: Japan’s Nissan Motor Co. said Thursday that its group operating profit in April-June plunged 99.2 percent from a year earlier to 995 million yen.

The carmaker blamed ballooning costs, including for sales incentives paid to car dealers to reduce auto inventories that had accumulated due to falling demand in the US market.

For the first quarter of fiscal 2024, Nissan’s sales rose 2.8 percent to 2,998,395 million yen, while its net profit fell 72.9 percent to 28,562 million yen.

Calling the results “extremely tough,” CEO Makoto Uchida in an online press conference vowed that Nissan will bounce back by releasing new vehicle models.

JIJI Press