Hot take: Nissan has always done what Toyota has done, but worse.
The Crown killed the Cedric
The CH-R is here, the Juke is dead or dying
The Patrol plays second fiddle to Land Cruiser
The Hilux kills the Navara
Nobody would buy a Pulsar/Tiida/whatever over a Corolla
Yaris destroys the Micra
Camry destroys Maxima
Hiace beats the...Nomad? What’s Nissan’s van even called?
Not quite a fair comparison, but the Prius is destroying the Leaf
Qashqai...is probably losing to Rav 4? Or Kluger? Maybe it’s best we don’t delve into the absurd SUV market.
I’m sure the Elgrand is beat down by the Vellfire/Alphard too. Let’s not even mention the Tarago.
You don’t even need to point out specific models to compare Lexus to Infiniti. Nobody buys Infiniti.
There are exceptions. The Z has long outsold the Supra, possibly since the 60s (though Supra has taken hearts and minds...) and Toyota hasn’t had a GT-R competitor since its inception. But these markets don’t matter anymore, and if Nissan cares about them they’ve a funny way of showing it. I suppose Nissan had some ground with Skylines past, Toyota’s sedans never quite had the same appeal.
My question is this:
How can Nissan exist when their direct competitor seems to do better than them in every single segment? When it’s been happening for years? Who the hell would buy a Nissan?
It’s just not how competition works. They aren’t even competitive. They have no point of differentiation. They’re just worse Toyota.