>> i.e. quite scaled back offerings/market share in the medium and small car sectors

Correct if you are looking at the UK/European market.

Worldwide the Japanese offerings are much wider - lots of lighter & heavier metal for different markets e.g. US/Japan.

Honda in the UK sell Jazz, Hrv, Civic, CRV .............and sell smaller numbers than 20 years ago.

USA has saloons, coupes, bigger 4x4, SUV, + Acuras - Japan has micro saloons, coupes, vans, pickups

Perhaps, though I still think Nissan and Mitsubishi appear to mainly concentrate on the same sectors wherever they sell cars, even if that's different from one nation/region to the next.

To me, Nissan and Renualt's tie-up was logical in that way because both have specialisties in markets and vehicle types that the other doesn't, but can still benefit to a reasonable degree from parts/design sharing and a general pooling of resources. I'm just not sure how Nissan and Mitsubishi can do so if they are direct competitors in most markets without shrinking their ranges.

Nissan's Qashqai and Renualt's Kadjar are the only real rebadged 'near identical' cars going for similar markets, though the Renaults tend to stick to the EU markets whereas the Qashqai is probably more of a 'world-wide' offering. The situation I would be alluding to is that of (at least for that car) Toyota and Subaru with their GT86 & BRZ - two almost identicals cars, both inside and out, sold in the same markets at the same price. Personally nothing to gain for whichever firm draws less sales (in that case, probably Subaru, the smaller player), and likely in this case to be Mitsubishi.

The Nissan part of the alliance between Nissan and Renault, has been more profitable than the Renault part for some time.

I must admit being surprised at that, given (at least in the UK/EU) Nissan's huge drop in sales of the Micra, Primera (no car now sold by them there in that size) and Pulsar (Almera as was), even accounting for large sales for the Qashqai and ok sales for the Note.

Maybe they've had better sales in other parts of the world. When the tie-up originally happened, I thought Renault got the best out of the deal. You have to wonder what would've happened to Nissan had it not gone ahead, or if they had a tie-up with another firm.

Renault, on the other hand, appear to have struggled to both recapture their strong Western EU market share of the 1990s - early 2000s and have not broken out of the EU market to any degree, even with their more recent push for sales of their budget 'Dacia' range.

Nissan originally got into trouble through trying to compete and beat Toyota in every market - and failing. Resulted in building up a pile of debt. Renault bought into Nissan - as part of the alliance each company took a stake in the other, though Nissan was limited to 15% of Renault due to partial state ownership of Renault (the French government currently own approx 19% of Renault).

The Qashqai replaced both the Almera and Primera, and Nissan achieved better sales with the replacement.

Since the current generation Micra's production was moved to India, Nissan UK has continued to build the Note, the Juke and now the Infiniti Q30

Incidentally the Toyota GT86 is built under contract for Toyota by Subaru.

Indeed - I wouldn't be surprised if the GT86 outsold the BRZ though!

Regarding Nissan - although the Qashqai is an undoubted success, the Juke is, I would say, more of a 'fashion car' given its very quirky looks (presumably appealing more to women than men), and sales may plummet at any time. What I do find really interesting is how many nearly-new/under 3yo Jukes are on sale on the supersites, almost as though the previous owners rapidly get tired of them. I not sure its a long-term seller.

If the Qashqai was to replace both the Almera and Primera, that rather negates the need for the Pulsar, which isn't exactly setting the world on fire in any department, though admitedly it is cheap to buy (secondhand) due poor residuals (Motorpoint are currently offering 1yo versions for about 45% off the list new price).

I don't think the Infinity brand will catch on in the UK/Europe - we already have enough premium brands, which, to be honest most buyers are snobbish about, and won't look at buying new slightly odd-looking 'expensive Nissans' (the same as why hardly anyone will buy the Ford Mondeo Vignales) - only in the US and the home Japanese market (less style conscious than us Europeans) will they do ok. I'm not sure that predominantly relying on good sales of one car (the Qashqai) will help Nissan longer term and isn't exactly a safe venture if you ask me.

"In 2006 in the UK and some European markets the Qashqai DID replace the Almera and Primera."

That is a source of frustration for me!. I still have a Primera hackback, and I am struggling to find a car to beat it. I need a replacement!!!

I test drove, the Qashqai, yes it was nice enough, but it was not perfect. I could feel tiny bumps on the road. The Qashqai certainly did not want me to wake up and I want to drive all the way to Scotland!

Few manufacturer's are making large hachbacks. I started up a Vauxhall Insigna and Ford Mondeo and the engines sounded really gruff (petrol).

I only wish I had a time machine, so could go back and buy another Primera!