The automaker had in 1999 reorganized its four domestic sales networks into two channels — the Nissan Blue Stage and the Nissan Red Stage, the daily said.

By merging the two channels and unifying dealerships under a common name and design concept, Nissan aims to appeal to customers with a more focused brand image, Nikkei said.

The company’s initial strategy was to associate Nissan Blue Stage with luxury and Nissan Red Stage with a sporty image. But both channels have been selling all Nissan vehicles since 2005, the business daily said.  

The consolidation is likely to make it easier for Nissan to compare performance of individual dealerships and achieve optimal distribution of its sales network, the newspaper added.

The Nikkei said Nissan will maintain annual domestic output at 1 million units, and boosting domestic sales has become a top priority for the company as it plans to reduce exports from Japan amid a stronger yen.

Nissan’s move will leave Toyota Motor Corp. as the only Japanese automaker to have multiple domestic sales channels, the Nikkei said.