Nissan's European operations will post a profit for 2001, despite a drop in retail sales.

The company said its retail sales were down 9% on 2000, to 483,990 units, as it focused efforts on returning to profitability. The UK bucked the trend, as sales rose 9% to 97,963, in line with the overall market increase in sales.

Itaru Koeda, chairman of Nissan's management committee Europe, said: “In 2001 we took the decision to focus on profitability. We kept a tight control on incentive spending, which resulted in a decline in volumes in some market.

“However, by reducing our purchasing costs, streamlining our distribution and drawing benefits from our alliance with Renault, we have achieved the first step in returning the European business to operating profitability.”