June 17, 2001

Carlos Ghosn:

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen.

When I stood before you 19 months ago on October 18th, 1999, I described the situation that Nissan was in and outlined a detailed 3-year plan to revive the company: the Nissan Revival Plan. It was considered bold and dramatic. At the conclusion of my address, I begged our employees for their full support and active involvement. This is their answer to you today: after the first full fiscal year, the Nissan Revival Plan has produced the best financial performance in the company's history as far as we can reliably trace it.

Never in a decade has Nissan's operating performance, financial situation and prospects for profitable growth been as good. Despite the skeptics,the people of Nissan wholeheartedly embraced the spirit of the NRP, leadingto a significant over-achievement of our first year commitments.

But fiscal year 2000 is only a first step in the right direction. Nissan has met its first challenge in a competitive landscape where the horizonline is still before us. Without a swift return to profitability, all our other plans and ambitions would have been in vain. NRP's first commitment of returning Nissan to profitability has been clearly met.

Today I am here to share with you a detailed analysis of our performance in fiscal year 2000 and then give you an outlook for fiscal year 2001. Before concluding, I will sketch a framework as we prepare for the future beyond NRP.

After my speech, we have reserved 45 minutes to answer your questions. Assisting me are Thierry Moulonguet, Nissan's CFO and Kiyoto Shinohara,our global controller.

Fiscal Year 2000 review
Let us begin the year review with our sales and product performance.The unit sales numbers I will comment are retail sales.

Sales Performance
When we announced the NRP, we said that we did not compute any growth. Not that we were not looking for growth, but we did not want to rely on it. However, during the past year our global unit sales increased 4.0% from 2million 530 thousand to 2 million632 thousand units.

In Japan, however, sales declined 3.6% versus FY 99 to 733,000 units with a 17.8% market share. This is not a new trend, as we know, Nissan has been unfortunately losing market share in Japan for the past 27 years.

Our first priority was in FY 00 and still is in FY 01, to focus on profit. In that respect, we are encouraged by the higher profit contributionper unit in the second half as we replace loss-making cars by profit-makingones like the Bluebird Sylphy, the X-Trail, the Primera or the Cima. 

In North America, sales increased 5.3%. US sales were up 4.3% to 744,000, while Canada came in with a strong increase of 24.1% to 49,000.

In Europe sales were up 3.5%, to 533,000 units, even though we saw intense competition in key countries and a turbulent U.K. market. 

Sales growth in General Overseas Markets was strong, up 14.1% to 573,000 units as we gained in important markets like Mexico where sales increased 28.3% to 173,000 units as well as in Thailand and Singapore. However,we still have significant room for improvement in Asian markets and other markets such as Australia and the Middle East.

Products
This performance was fueled by the important efforts we have been making to develop our business, from new products to brand management and associated businesses.

We launched in Japan the first wave of the 22 new products promised in the NRP with a new customer focus and each has been well received by themarket, exceeding volume and mix targets. These cars have given us a good start in restoring profitability on the domestic market.

Brand
Last year we began active management of our Brand Identity. More than 4,000 Nissan employees in Japan and North America underwent training to leverage our efforts in building a "bold and thoughtful" brand.

In January we unveiled our new car badge as well as our product drivenbr and strategy with the launch of the Cima followed by the Primera. As partof the launch, we introduced new advertising campaigns and visual identity. Behind me you can see the company's new corporate trademark.

In Detroit we began to unveil the next generation of Nissan cars for North America including the new Z-car, the Alpha truck and the Infiniti FX45. We followed up in Geneva with the Chappo concept. 

The response we have received from our customers, the media and the public in general tells us that we are starting to make an impact. 

Investments
In the meantime, we made important investment decisions during the year to ensure our future growth. 

In the U.S., we decided to increase the capacity at Smyrna by 50% and to triple our Decherd plant output. Last month, I broke ground for the new 250,000 vehicle a year plant we are building in Canton, Mississippi.

We have also decided on significant investments in the Mercosur and in our Sunderland plant in the U.K. where we will be building the new Micraon the common alliance B platform. In Thailand, we decided to purchase a majority stake in our affiliate last month. We believe Thailand is a key marketfor our growth in the ASEAN area and a competitive export platform.

Longer term, we launched a joint program with Renault to develop fuel cell technologies which is our number one priority in future technological developments.

All these projects have been made possible by Nissan's renewed performance and are fully consistent with the commitment to reduce debt in half by FY02.

Management
Performance needs to be actively supported by management with an adapted organization. In April 2000 we began running North America and Europeunder regional management committees. 

In September we expanded this structure to Japan and General Overseas Markets and established GNX, a matrix structure clarifying global, functional and regional responsibilities, especially here in Japan.

Cost performance
One of the key objectives of the NRP is to restore Nissan's cost competitiveness in the purchasing, manufacturing and SG&A functions. Cost reductions in fiscal year 2000 have exceeded commitments everywhere.

We reduced purchasing costs by 11% for FY 2000, overachieving not on lyour 8% commitment, but also our target of 10%. The number of parts and component  suppliers declined 30% from 1,145 in October 1999 to 810 while the number of service suppliers fell by 40%. By globalizing our procurement function, re-engineering our processes, challenging our specifications and openingup
to our suppliers' proposals, we have been able to achieve significant improvements in our purchased prices in each of our markets, withoutever compromising on quality.

In manufacturing, we kept our commitment to shut three domestic assembly plants, MURAYAMA, Aichi Kikai Minato and Nissan Shatai Kyoto. The shutdowns required a lot from a lot of people. However, they proceeded smoothlyand without disruption; not a single unit of production was lost as we transferred equipment and production to the remaining sites. On this point, I want to acknowledge the sense of responsibility of everyone involved in this process.

As a result, our domestic capacity utilization rate increased from 51.1% with a total of seven factories to 74.1% based on our current fiscalyear production plan with our four reconfigured plants. At the same time,we considerably simplified our plant and vehicle program organization by progressively specializing factories by segment and concentrating ourlower volume diversity on one site, Nissan Shatai Shonan plant.

Efficiency in R & D improved significantly. The average R & D cost per vehicle project declined by 17% in fiscal year 2000 compared to fiscal year 99. This is an important trend as the workload from new products and technology development increased by a minimum of 15%.

In marketing and sales we moved swiftly on all our markets.

In Japan, we have already closed the 300 outlets we had planned to close in three years. Of the 18 dealerships we planed to sell to the private sector, we have already achieved 10. We have also significantly reduced our incentive spending as we have changed our sales focus from market share and volumes to a total contribution to profits.

In Europe, we have moved with Renault in creating single legal distribution entities organized around their hubs. Switzerland and Holland are already operational.  

In the United States, we completed the reorganization of the back office functions of the Nissan and Infiniti channels. Incentives were tightly controlled, even after the sharp rise in industry spending which started in October 2000 with the first signs of a slowdown. Average incentives declined from $1,800 per unit in fiscal 1999 to $1,400 in fiscal year 2000.

General and administrative costs were reduced by 3.4%, excluding the favorable impact of lower service and support costs accounted for inthe overall purchasing cost reduction.

Total head-count at the end of fiscal 2000 came to 133,800, a decline of 14,200 people from NRP's base of 148,000. This includes 9,100 new employees hired by Nissan to support our growth and development.

One of the key principles of the NRP is freeing financial resources to invest in our core business. Asset sales have played an important rolein supporting our investments while reducing the overall level of automotive debt. In fiscal year 2000, sales of real estate, marketable securities, non-core operations and affiliate companies generated 341 billion yen in cash proceeds compared to 200 billion yen forecast for the year. 

The list of all our disposals is too long for me to comment; let me select our key transactions:

Real estate sales brought in 87 billion Yen in cash and 55 billion yen in extraordinary profit. Of note was the sale of the land of the former Ogikubo plant for 24 billion Yen in cash proceeds.

The marketable securities portfolio has been significantly reduced. Of the initial 113 holdings, only 33 remain today. By selling these securities,we  have raised 146 billion yen in cash and booked 38.6 billion yen in profits, despite adverse stock market conditions.

The main non-core spin-offs include the former aerospace division, plastic fuel tanks and velocity joints. These spin-offs generated 40 billionyen in cash.

Finally, we sold a number of important affiliate companies by using awide array of methods, adapted to each particular case ranging from tenderbids to management buy-outs and private transactions. In each case, our objective  was the same: reinforce the efficiency and competitiveness of our supplier base; we were not and are still not only motivated by the need to raise cash. Some of the major names we sold include Ikeda Bussan to Johnson Controls, Ichikoh to Valeo, Yorozu to Tower, Vantec to 3i, . . . In total, affiliate transactions generated 68 billion yen in cash.

Financial results
Let us now look in detail at Nissan's consolidated financial performance and start with the income statement. 

Consolidated net sales came to 6.09 trillion yen, a 1.9% increase from last year. To be consistent, changes in accounting methods and the scope of consolidation (such as the consolidation of Aichi and the spin-off of the aerospace division) accounted for a net 0.5% increase. Other primaryfactors of the increase in sales include the net impact of volumes, mix and prices for a total of 4.7% offsetting the negative impact of foreign exchange variations of 3.3%.

On the cost side, the improvement has been quite significant. As I mentioned in reviewing our cost performance, purchasing costs were cut by 11% anddue to the rapid pace of implementation of the NRP, costs were reduced inall other fields in line with our targets, improving both the gross and operating profits.

As a result, Nissan's consolidated full year operating profit improved from 82.6 billion yen to 290.3 billion yen, more than tripling last year's performance. As a percentage of net sales, the operating margin more than tripled from 1.4% to 4.75%, reaching a level higher than the NRP commitment of a minimum 4.5% for fiscal year 02, 2 years in advance.

Let us now look in detail at the variance analysis between last year's 82.6 billion yen operating profit and this year's 290.3 billion yen. I will analyze seven different points:

1) Foreign exchange: As I said earlier, despite a weakening in the value of the yen in the last quarter, foreign exchange rates generated a significant negative impact to operating profits of 83.6 billion yenas the yen was stronger on average for the year against all currencies. This
amount is the net consolidated impact of all currencies, 9.4 billion of which coming from the dollar and 63.1 billion coming from European currencies. 

2) Accounting changes and scope of consolidation: The changes decided last year to bring Nissan's accounts closer to internationally accepted standards resulted in a positive net impact of 22.2 billion yen. The positive impact relating to the change in the depreciation method more than offset the negative impact due to the recognition of current pension liabilities as an operating expense.

3) Consistent with the sales analysis I developed earlier, the drop in volumes in Japan had a negative impact that was more than offset by the positive effect of higher sales in the United States, Europe and other markets. The mix effect, however, was negative, mostly in Japan and North America. In total, volumes and mix had a negative impact of 12.1 billion yen on operating profits.

4) Product enrichment and competitiveness and the cost of regulations had a negative impact of 82.3 billion yen in all of our major markets,but primarily in Japan and North America.

5) The single most important item contributing to the improvement in our profitability is purchasing costs. The reduction of 11% in purchasing costs contributed 287 billion yen to operating profits. This is the actual accounting impact for the fiscal year. If one counts the parts that have been purchased at lower costs for vehicles that will be sold in the current
fiscal year, the total impact of lower purchasing costs is 322 billion yen. 

6) Sales expenses, net of the impact of foreign exchange and purchasing, decreased sharply by 77.6 billion yen with significant reductions in incentive spending in Japan, North America and Europe as well as warranty and labor costs.

7) General and Administrative expenses, also net of the impact of foreign exchange and purchasing, were lower by 17.4 billion yen coming mostly from lower labor costs in Japan.

Finally, other items had a negative impact of 18.5 billion yen.

On a regional basis, our profits come from the following markets before eliminations:

The country where we most improved our operating profitability in FY00 is Japan. Operating profits came to 174.3 billion yen, compared to 19.4 billion yen in fiscal year 99.

The United States and Canada provided a strong performance with a profit of 113.4 billion yen, up from 77.6 billion last year. As we had forecastat the half-year results presentation, the slowdown in business that we saw coming, had a dampening effect on second half profits that were not as strongas the first half.

Europe posted a loss for the full year of 27.3 billion yen compared to a loss of 38.1 billion yen in 1999. 
In General overseas markets we made a total operating profit of 42.2billion yen compared to 6.2 billion yen in FY 99. I see in these numbers an encouragement to pursue selectively our business development in these markets where significant opportunities exist for profitable growth.

As was already the case at the half year, these numbers show that Nissan is beginning to better balance its geographic contribution to earnings. Reducing our dependency on profits from the United States and restoringa solid foundation from our operations in Japan is beginning to show. While much still remains to be done in this field, we are encouraged by these first results.

The next major line in our P & L statement is ordinary profit, which increased by 283.9 billion yen in 2000 from a loss of 1.6 billion yenin 1999. Net non-operating expenses declined by 76.2 billion yen for the following reasons:

I. Net financial costs were halved to 31.1 billion yen. This was achieved by a combination of a decline in the volume of net automotive  indebtedness and second, by a fast re-engineering of our funding to lower cost sources. All of Nissan's borrowings are managed on a consolidated
basis by the global treasury department allowing us to systematically secure the most cost effective and balanced source of funds worldwide. 

II. As I mentioned earlier, the sale of marketable securities generated 38.6 billion yen in profits, compared to 14.3 billion in 1999. These are realized profits and do not include 2.6 billion yen in unrealized pre-tax gains calculated at March 31st closing prices.

III. As previously announced, Nissan is amortizing the remainder of its past pension liabilities over a period of 15 years. For the full year, we expensed an amount of 24.7 billion yen whereas nothing was charged in fiscal year 1999.

IV. Finally, other net non-operating items contributed a profit of 9.2 billion yen compared to a loss of 37.9 billion yen last year. Included in this line are the companies accounted for by the equity method, including our share in domestic parts suppliers. Since many of these companies are listed and have not yet published final figures, I cannot give you their detailed accounts. However, in the aggregate, the profit improvement coming from our affiliates amounted to 28.2 billion yen.

Just as at the half-year results presentation, these numbers are testimony to the momentum created by NRP in our affiliate companies. Nissan's purchasing policy and, in particular the Nissan 333 program, has servedas a catalyst to our suppliers who have significantly improved their
profitability and their competitiveness. This is the best example of the "win-win" spirit of NRP; enhanced performance cannot happen at the detriment of those of our suppliers who accepted to take on the challenge. 

After taking into account net extraordinary profits of 7.4 billion yen,net income before tax came to 289.7 billion yen. No further charges for restructuring were taken in fiscal year 2000.

Current taxes amounted to 68.1 billion yen, but their impact was offset by the recognition of deferred taxes in an amount of 130.6 billion yen.As we indicated in our results presentation last year, Nissan is beginning to write down its deferred tax position as we return to profitability. We expect that the remaining amount will be recognized in fiscal year 01.

Minority interest represented a charge of 21.1 billion yen as a result of the improved profits of fully consolidated companies that we do not own 100% of.

Bottom line, Nissan earned a consolidated 331.1 billion yen or 5.4% of sales. Again, this is, by far, the best result in the company's records as far as we can trace them. 

On the balance sheet side, net automotive debt declined steadily throughout the year. Cash generated from the asset sales I described earlier, combined with improved cash from operations contributed to a significant reduction of 396 billion yen in debt. For the first time in 15 years, Nissan's net automotive debt at the close of the year is below 1 trillion yen at 953 billion. This is less than half the amount of net debt that was on the books at the close of fiscal year 1998 at the time of the signing of the alliance with Renault.

The improved profit picture in fiscal year 2000 has served to restore Nissan's equity position. Consolidated shareholders equity came to 957.9 billion yen, allowing us to propose a 7-yen per share dividend at thecoming shareholders' meeting in June. Our net automotive debt/equity ratio came to 1, a very substantial improvement from 2.4 in 1999 and the lowest ratio since 1989. At the same time, our share price doubled from 409 yen on April 1st 2000 to 831 yen on April 2nd 2001, producing 1.6 trillion yen in value to our shareholders.

As you know from the forecast of non-consolidated results published on April 23rd, the parent company accounts also show substantial improvement. Let me highlight a few of the key numbers I know some of you like to analyze: 

Non-consolidated sales came to 3 trillion yen, an unchanged level from1999.

The non-consolidated operating profit came to 127.7 billion yen, an improvement of 143.3 billion yen compared to the loss of 15.6 billion yen in 1999.

Ordinary profit came to 135.6 billion yen from a loss of 35.8 billion yen in 1999.

Fiscal Year 2001 outlook
I will now share with you some of the basic external factors that we have assumed going into the new fiscal year.

Foreign Exchange
For the full fiscal year, we have used an exchange rate forecast of 114 yen to the dollar and 105 yen to the euro. While some may think this is conservative, we believe it is a reasonable level at which the company will improve its competitiveness and profitability. Knowing that global currency markets can swing rapidly, we have avoided planning on any additional benefit from a weaker yen.

Total Industry and Nissan volumes
In terms of volumes, in Japan we forecast a slight increase in TIV to 4.2 million units, excluding mini-cars. Our volume forecast for the year is 764,000 units, up 4.2% with a market share of 18.2%.

In the U.S., we forecast a market of 15.9 million units, a 7.3% decline from fiscal year 2000. We are forecasting Nissan volumes of 762,000 units, an increase of 2.4%. This should increase our market share from our current level of 4.3%. For Canada, we expect an increase of 2.0% to 50,000 units.

In Europe, we forecast a TIV of 16.4 million units, down 2.0%. We expect volumes of 523,000 units, down 1.9% for a 3.1% market share. 

In the General Overseas Markets, we foresee continuous steady growth where we expect Nissan sales of 622,000 units, an increase of 8.6%. 

Our global sales forecast for FY 01 is 2 million 721 thousand units,a 3.4% increase.

Business development
In fiscal year 01, we have started launching five all-new Nissan products. Regionally, we will be launching a total of seven cars. 

In Japan, the new Caravan was unveiled on April 26th and the new Skyline will be unveiled in June. The new Stagea will come in October and the new March in next February.

Last month, I announced that we had reached agreement with Suzuki allowing us to enter the mini-car market profitably, an important segment we cannot afford to be absent from. We will show the new product at the Tokyo motor show and plan for the new model to go on sale early next fiscal year.

In the United States, the new Infiniti Q 45 went on sale in April and,at the same time at the New York Auto Show, we unveiled the new Altima that will go on sale in September. 

In Europe, we will launch the X-Trail in the fall.

We will also continue to improve existing products with mid-life enhancements, including a facelift for the X-Terra, a new 3.5 liter forthe Maxima and a high-output engine for the all-new Primera in Japan.

Finally we are preparing to further strengthen our Asian presence by taking over the management of our Thai affiliate, and searching for other opportunities of profitable growth, especially in China.

Brand
We will continue to communicate our new brand identity along with product launches and the introduction of new concepts and show cars.

Strong product visibility will continue at Global motor shows including Frankfurt in September where we will show our entry level concept onthe all new alliance B platform. Our brand identity rollout will culminate at the Tokyo motor show in October as we unveil at least six products in preparation for FY 02.

Associated businesses
We will continue to grow our associated businesses, in particular, the global parts business unit that is set to increase its profitability further and leverage the capacity of our sales finance companies NMAC and NFS to enhance Nissan's global offering.

Cost reductions and NRP targets for FY 01 
In fiscal year 01, we will continue to execute the NRP in the same spirit as in 2000. 
 
In purchasing, we are targeting further reductions to arrive as soon as possible at our cumulative three-year 20% cost reduction commitment that,as you know, will not change. We will continue to implement our action plans with the same determination and speed as in FY 00.

The benefits from running our manufacturing facilities at the higher capacity utilization rates I showed you earlier will now flow throughour accounts.

In the selling, general and administrative area, we will continue toreduce sales costs as we exercise discipline and sound judgment in keeping incentives down and pursue the restructuring of the domestic dealer network to come closer to customer expectations.

The sale of non-core assets will continue, including our remaining securities portfolio, additional real estate and affiliates. The cash generated by these sales will continue to go to further reducing net automotive debt which we see coming in below 850 billion yen.

On a regional basis, I expect the United States to remain a strong engine of performance, that Japan will become one, that Europe will show significant improvement and that the general overseas markets will continue growing their contribution.

The alliance with Renault
The alliance is key to the future growth and profitability of both Nissan and Renault. Our goal is to create the premier bi-national automotivegroup in the world, driven by the reach for higher performance.

We have already created a significant level of synergy in purchasing, engineering, manufacturing, marketing, sales and distribution which gives the two companies a boost in competitiveness and a higher level of profitability.

We will continue development work on the B and C platforms, which we expect to account for more than 50% of the joint production of both companies by 2005.

In December, we will start production of the Clio in our Aguascalientes plant in Mexico and, in early 2002, the Nissan Frontier will start in Renault's Curitiba plant in Brazil. We also announced that beginning in 2002, we will assemble the Renault X 83 LCV in Barcelona.

We have created a joint purchasing company with Renault to take advantage of the combined volumes, reducing purchasing costs an additional 1% in two years on top of the NRP targets.

Risks and opportunities
As always, the new term brings with it business risks and opportunities.

On the side of risks, the threat of a further slowdown and the potential increase in incentives in the global automotive markets is clearly present. 

In North America, a slowdown in the United States that could be much greater and more precipitous than what we forecast is a real possibility. In addition, the Mexican market could also slow down from the record pacewe have seen last year in the wake of a softer US economy.

In Europe, the erratic start of the year leads us to be cautious.

Finally, even though the Japanese market has not fallen recently, it remains at low levels in an economy that is still not showing tangible signs of recovery.

On the side of opportunities, foreign exchange rates present a reasonable opportunity compared to our current forecast. 

However, the NRP is Nissan's biggest asset. The effects of the NRP will be felt by the growth being fostered with an increasing number of new products and a continuously enhanced brand. In addition, NRP will bring more cost competitiveness and will continue to free resources to be invested in core businesses.

Fiscal Year 01 Financial forecast
In weighing all these factors, we are filing the following forecast with the Tokyo Stock Exchange using a foreign exchange rates of 114 yen/dollar and 105 yen/euro:

 · Sales: 6.3 trillion yen, a 3.4% increase from FY 00.
 · Operating profit: 350 billion yen, up 21% from FY 00 which gives an operating margin of 5.5%. 
 · Ordinary profit: 290 billion yen
 · Net income: 330 billion yen expecting significantly less extraordinary profits and using a reasonable assumption for the net tax impact.
 · Capital expenditures: 315 billion yen,
 · Net automotive debt: less than 850 billion yen.

Preparing for the future
Fiscal year 01 is the second year under the NRP. Already there are signs that Nissan is changing deeply. 

Customers are seeing the change in our products and services. Suppliers are seeing the change in our methods processes and spirit of collaboration. Shareholders are seeing the change in the stock price and in our financial performance. Employees are seeing the change in management.

Every year for the past 3 years, we have been surveying our work force's awareness and perceptions of the changes happening to and around our company. What are the results telling us about ourselves? 

If we look at the survey results for the last 3 years -- 98, 99 and 2000--conducted among 30,000 Japan-based employees, we see that the last fiscal year witnesses a decidedly marked improvement across the board on all questions asked. We see the biggest positive variation in people's perception of the quality of communication in the company, the speed of decision making and accountability.

And if we look closer and focus on the responses from our manager segment, the positive shift in sentiment that they are expressing is even more pronounced in all categories.

Not surprisingly, as a result of the positive shift in sentiment towards the company, the number of new graduate applicants in the first month of the spring hiring campaign increased dramatically from 400 to 2,100.

Post NRP Guide
We have made significant steps as we continue to reestablish the credibility of Nissan. With the return of a decent level of performance, we have begun to develop a plan to carry us into the years 2003 - 2005.

We have decided on a guide that sets a base for necessary action plans that we are putting together.  

The Post NRP Guide addresses growth, profitability and debt.

Growth: The post NRP guide is targeting 1 million additional units worldwide in 2005.

To achieve this, we will place top priority to grow volumes in Japan,the U.S. and selected General Overseas Markets. In Europe, we will continue to strictly emphasize profitability.

To fuel this growth we will need attractive new products. In the three years through FY 2005 we will launch an additional 22 all-new models. That is, on average, a steady flow of 7 new models a year.

Restoring Nissan's brand power is not a short-term project. It is something we must continue to work at to enhance the attractiveness of our products. Our priorities are to:

 · Create attractive design with a distinct Nissan identity
 · Offer creative, user-friendly on-board applications of IT
 · Develop high technology powertrains for superior driving performance
 · Support our product range with competitive services

Technology
We will use our strong base in technology to make our products more attractive. I will not review our entire Research Program but let me mention two areas among our priorities; Information Technology and environmental protection. 

People buy cars because they offer outstanding personal mobility. We believe this freedom can be moved up to the next level with IT, Information Technology. IT has infinite capabilities; allowing drivers to find the route to the destination that is quickest, or most scenic, or have all kinds of information at his or her fingertips. We are close to offering a new type of Telematics services that will be more attractive and affordable. And it shouldn't be a hassle using this new technology. Our new Primera and Cima show our direction in friendly interface between driver and machine.

The more we cater to the needs for individual transportation, the more we have to be conscious about protecting the environment. We have already proven our emission's reduction technologies with the world's cleanest gasoline engine on the Sentra CA in the US and Bluebird Sylphy in Japan. I can guarantee that you will see more to come. For the long term, as you may know, we are embarking on a project with Renault to develop fuel cells as the ultimate clean power-plant. Last April, we have started tests withthe  Xterra based fuel-cell under real world conditions as part of the California Partnership for Fuel Cells. 

Today, I am only touching upon two examples of our research and development activities. I invite you to come to the Tokyo Motor Show this coming October where I will be able to talk more in detail of where we are heading.

Profitability
The second part of the Post NRP guide focuses on profitability. The target is to position the company at the top level of profitability in the auto industry.

Increased operating margins will be based on:
 · growth in volumes,
 · a more favorable mix,
 · stronger brand identity,
 · cost competitiveness
 · and accelerated and amplified synergies with Renault

Cost Reduction 
The fast start of the NRP was fueled by our efforts to effectively reduce costs. To reach the next level of competitiveness in the industry we must continue to reduce costs and increase efficiencies in all areas of our business: purchasing, manufacturing, R&D, distribution and general and administrative expenses.

For example, distribution is the second largest cost item after purchasing. Distribution costs  include the costs associated with a vehicle from the end of the factory line to the customer: marketing, advertising, incentives and dealer margin. Today, these costs account for 26% of sales. The guideis to reduce these costs by 3% by 2005.

A second example is R&D. In R&D, we will increase efficiencies, including the intensive use of modernized computer aided design. The guide is to improve the efficiency of R&D by 20% on top of the level that will be achieved by the end of NRP and reduce our development lead-times by 50%. 

Our profitability comes from a combination of growing our business and continuous improvement of our cost competitiveness. We have to be able to position the company to compete profitably even in an adverse exchangerate environment.

Debt
The third area we are addressing deals with financial resources. Our target is to take Nissan into a zero debt environment.

Zero debt means controlled and managed financial constraints. It means flexibility to invest and grow within the strict guidelines of increased profitability targets and an optimized financial structure. 

Nissan's debt has been declining steadily since fiscal year 98: from 2.1 trillion yen we dropped to 1.4 trillion at end 99 and 953 billion yenin FY 00 on our way to less than 700 billion yen committed for the end of FY02.

Beyond the NRP, we want to manage our balance sheet consistent with our operating competitiveness and our capacity to generate cash flows. That means we have to be able to go to zero net debt, while we maintain the flexibility of using debt as a tool to optimize the use of our financial resources and the cost of our funding.

Conclusion
Nineteen months ago, I told you the simple truth: Nissan was in bad shape. The company had been in a dark tunnel that seemed to have no end with out a glitter of light in sight.
 
However, I was sure that there was light somewhere. It just had to be. And, in fact, it was. It was in the eyes, the hearts and the guts of many Nissan associates, battered by the years of the company's decline and diminished by a sense of defeat.

They had had enough. They longed to be able to hold their heads up and demonstrate their potential and the potential of Nissan. It is an awakening, but make no mistake, we are not ready to cast off the mind-set of an underdog. We have moved from the emergency room to the recovery room.

Ladies and gentlemen, Nissan is back with determination. We are as passionate about our current achievements as we are about our futuregoals. Nissan will continue to surprise you, it will strive to delight you as a customer and as a shareholder. 

Thank you.

Nissan's Year 2000 Financial Results