Not just Brexit: Four key challenges facing Nissan and car industry

Nissan and the wider car industry have been wrestling with a variety of challenges in recent months.

:: DIESEL

UK car sales fell by 7% last year according to industry figures but it was diesel-fuelled vehicles - representing nearly a third of the market - that saw the sharpest decline, slumping by 30%.

The decline has been blamed on uncertainty about the future for diesel in the wake of the Volkswagen (IOB: 0P6N.IL - news) emissions testing scandal.

:: EXPORTS

Car (HKSE: 0699-OL.HK - news) exports are also falling as overseas economies experience a slowdown, with sales to China down most notably, by 24%, and demand from Europe also down, by 10%.

China is the world's second biggest economy but its trade war with the US has seen the brakes applied to its rapid expansion and dragged on many of the countries doing business with it.

:: BREXIT

Car makers including Jaguar Land Rover and Toyota fear disruption to supply chains caused by a no-deal Brexit could affect "just in time" supply chains costing them tens of millions of pounds a day.

Business groups such as the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) warn that this uncertainty is having a damaging effect on investment.

:: GHOSN

An additional headache facing Nissan has been the arrest of boss Carlos Ghosn - now ousted as chairman - on allegations of financial misconduct, which he denies.

It was Mr Ghosn who held talks with the prime minister in Downing Street four months after the Brexit vote before announcing that new Qashqai and X-Trail models would be built in Sunderland.