If you’ve been watching the news, you probably know that Nissan Motor Corporation is in trouble. Although the brand started over 90 years ago in Japan, it’s been through plenty of ups and downs.
It began selling cars in America in 1958 under the Datsun name. It changed to Nissan in 1981, and achieved success with models like the rebranded 240Z, 280Z and 300Z.
It also did well in both the entry-level market with the Versa, Sentra, and Altima, and in the SUV category with the Rogue and Pathfinder. It was also one of the first to offer an EV: the Nissan Leaf.
The latest round of troubles began with the arrest of Carlos Ghosn in 2018, when he was chairman and CEO of Nissan. That’s a whole other story, and worth looking into if you’re interested.
But right now, Nissan is fighting for its life. A series of uninspired vehicles and bad management has driven Nissan to the point of near bankruptcy.
To be fair, other brands have come and gone over the decades, but many of those brands were part of a larger company. Nissan and Infiniti are solely property of Nissan.
So, what happens to you as an owner of a Nissan/Infiniti vehicle if the company no longer exists?
To be brutally honest, you’re on your own. There are little to no consumer protections for a company that no longer exists.
It means vehicle parts can be hard to find, warranty coverage is useless, and resale values will drop like a huge boulder. No updates to software and no dealership support, either.
This is a worse-case scenario, however. Nissan is cutting costs and restructuring to try to stay afloat.
The problem is buyers are aware and tend to shy away from cars that may not be supported in the future. It’s a vicious cycle, and one that’s going to take strong management to find a way out. In this case, Nissan has about a year to try to stay afloat. Time will tell.
