Nissan Motor Co. fell to third place among Japanese automakers in terms of group sales in fiscal 1999, behind No. 1 Toyota and No. 2 Honda, according to Nissan's earnings report released Friday.

Honda Motor Co. reported last week 6.1 trillion yen in consolidated sales in fiscal 1999, which ended March 31, compared with Nissan's 5.98 trillion yen.

Nissan, established in 1933, has held second place in sales for more than three decades.

Nissan saw declined group sales and consolidated pretax losses for fiscal 1999, due to the yen's appreciation and decreased sales, company executives said.

The company posted consolidated pretax losses of 1.6 billion yen, compared with 24.5 billion yen a year earlier, and its group sales were down 9.2 percent from the previous year.

Consolidated operating profits decreased 24.8 percent to 82.6 billion yen, while consolidated net losses were 684.4 billion yen, compared to 27.7 billion yen in net losses in fiscal 1998.

In terms of sales volume, Nissan also slipped to third place behind Toyota and Honda. Its's group car sales decreased 5 percent from the previous year to 2.42 million units.

However, Nissan managed to decrease the group's auto-business-related debts from 1.4 trillion yen to 1.35 trillion yen by the end of fiscal 1999.

On an unconsolidated basis, Nissan maintained its position in terms of sales as the second largest Japanese carmaker.

Pretax losses were 35.8 billion yen, compared with 14.6 billion yen in pretax profit a year earlier, and sales fell 9.7 percent to 3 trillion yen.

Operating losses marked 15.6 billion yen, compared with 15.1 billion yen in operating profit posted the previous year. Net losses jumped to 790 billion yen, compared with 34.8 billion yen in net losses a year earlier.

Nissan predicts its consolidated pretax profit to be 40 billion yen. The company did not disclose its projections for unconsolidated earnings for fiscal 2000.

Nissan is carrying out a restructuring plan -- unveiled last October -- designed by Nissan Chief Operating Officer Carlos Ghosn.

Its major goals include the return of Nissan's consolidated profitability in fiscal 2000 and the reduction of its group auto-related debts to less than 700 billion yen by the end of fiscal 2002.