Nissan's Ghosn sees no 2009 U.S. auto recovery

By Kevin Krolicki

NASHVILLE, Tenn (Reuters) - Nissan Motor Co (7201.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) does not expect U.S. auto sales to bounce back in 2009 after a sharp decline this year, Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said on Tuesday.

Ghosn said Nissan expected industrywide U.S. sales to be near 14.3 million units in 2008, down from 16.15 million in 2007. Next year's tally would be about the same at 14.3 million, he said, adding that the risk was for a lower figure.

"Please be prepared to see a changing forecast," Ghosn told reporters "I think we are going to have a challenging couple of years."

Ghosn pursued an unsuccessful partnership bid with GM (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) in 2006 and has said in the past that Renault-Nissan would welcome a North American partner to round out its alliance, spurring speculation of potential tie-ups with Ford Motor Co (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) or Chrysler LLC.

But Ghosn cautioned on Tuesday that the industry's downturn and volatile commodity prices had made equity-based deals harder to complete.

"Today, obviously, the market conditions are very uncertain, so the likelihood of moves now is relatively small because we need to understand what we're buying," he said.

In any case, Ghosn said Nissan-Renault would never be involved in an outright acquisition of another automaker.

"When people talk about consolidation they talk about Company A buying Company B," he said. "But we know this doesn't work in our industry. Company A buying Company B is guaranteed to destroy value."  Continued...