They decided they wanted to increase sales and did everything they could (incentives on the hood, fleet sales, etc.) to drive that rather than focus on profitability. Combine that with letting models languish for a long period of time without a significant update, causing them to fall behind the competition (look at the Infiniti line up as a great example). They held onto the Leaf EV forever without significant improvements. They were leading the EV charge and fell heavily behind. They came out with the Ariya a bit too late and while it's an ok product, there's more desirable products out there for similar prices. Add in the bad reputation of their CVTs (especially in Rogues, Pathfinders, QX60) and it leads to customer shying away and poor resale value on the used market comparatively. And the reputation on the VR30 engines isn't great (turbo replacements, oil pump control solenoid issues). Now with the market moving more in favor of hybrids, they don't have anything that can compete and will likely be too late when they finally have one. It's no wonder they are in the mess they are in and their survival this time will not only need significant investment, but some rapid changes.
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