Their Infiniti car couldn't ruin Nissan, but a climate where government mandates and subsidizes electric cars, which means deviating down to the revenue and running lean, are going to put them out of business.
Because they were the world's largest electric car company, and they foolishly believed politicians who said if government forced the product on people, a miracle of capitalism would occur and consumers would like it.
Leaf. Credit: Nissan.
As with solar panels and wind, without continued mandates the industry is stuck, because no company wants to invest their money when others are spreading the business risk across hundreds of millions of taxpayers who have no choice and can't punish you by selling stock. With 'all competitors being equal' in a government-directed industry Nissan isn't going to be higher quality or more affordable so profits have plummeted and they cut 9,000 jobs. Insiders say if they don't get a bailout from the government or an acquisition by a more successful brand, they could be gone in 12 months.
