Nissan Motor Co Ltd has nudged up its profit forecast for what is already set to be the automaker's best year since 2008, saying a surge in the dollar is pushing up the value of earnings in the United States, its biggest market. In the third quarter alone, when Nissan's earnings eclipsed analyst estimates, discounts cost the automaker around $3,500 per vehicle, according to researcher Autodata. But the strength of dollar sales in yen terms drove up income, helping Nissan offset weaker-than-expected demand in China and Russia.
Nissan also reported an operating profit margin of 5.3 percent for the quarter. That was half of Toyota's 10.6 percent, and was even lower than the 5.4 percent of Honda Motor Co , which is grappling multi-million-vehicle recalls for air bag problems.