TOKYO -(Dow Jones)- Nissan Motor Co. (7201.TO), announcing record earnings for its fiscal year ended March 31, disclosed an ambitious new three-year plan that seeks to boost growth while establishing Nissan as one of the world's most financially disciplined car producers.

Nissan said net profit rose 1.7% to Y512.3 billion in the fiscal year, up from Y504 billion a year earlier. Net revenue jumped 15% to Y8.58 trillion as operating profit grew 4.4% to Y861.2 billion. The numbers, which were roughly in line with analysts' expectations, stand in sharp contrast to dismal earnings reports from General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. last week.

For the current fiscal year through March 2006, Nissan said it expects a group net profit of Y517 billion, a group operating profit of Y870 billion and group sales of Y9 trillion.

Nissan maintained an operating margin of 10% for the year. That means that before taxes, Nissan makes 10 cents in profit for every $1 in sales. That number is currently the highest in the automobile industry, even beating its other Japanese competitors. Toyota Motor Corp.'s (7203.TO) profit margins are currently roughly 9% while Honda Motor Co. (7267.TO) weighs in at just under 8%.

Nissan released a new three-year plan called "Value Up" in which it promised to maintain the lead among global car makers in profit margins, to boost annual sales by a million cars to 4.2 million by the fiscal year ending March 2009, and to earn an average of 20% on the capital that it invests over the course of the next three years. In the year ended March 31, 2004 , Nissan sold 3.3 million vehicles worldwide.

Company officials say Nissan is on track to hit one of the company's earlier commitments to sell 3.6 million cars a year by September 2005 .

The three goals of the Value Up plan also put the spotlight on continuing financial achievements at Nissan. Only six years ago, when Nissan's Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn took the helm, Nisan was on the brink of bankruptcy.

Since then, Ghosn has led Nissan in a remarkable recovery, eliminating debt and rebuilding its operations. Now, it is shifting the focus more heavily toward profitability and growth.

Nissan's strong earnings and its bold goals for the next three years illustrate the growing threat Asia's auto makers pose to Detroit . The news at Nissan - maker of such hot-selling vehicles as the Murano and the Infinity line of luxury cars - comes as both GM and Ford have recently warned that the outlook for earnings is clouded by a weaker U.S. market and mounting health-care liabilities for unionized workers and retirees. Nissan's sales in the U.S., meantime, have been surging, jumping 18% during Nissan's most recent fiscal year.

There are some lingering questions about Nissan's performance. Ghosn is moving to Paris this week, taking the post of chief executive of Nissan affiliate Renault SA. He will run both companies, dividing his time between Paris and Tokyo, and it is unclear how well Nissan will continue to perform while its charismatic leader devotes half his energy to running Renault. Renault, which has a 44% stake in Nissan Motor, said on Friday that sales in the first quarter of 2005 slipped to EUR9.84 billion from EUR9.92 billion in the first quarter of 2004, while unit sales rose 2.4%.

Nissan, like the entire industry, also faces many threats. Weak U.S. competitors raise the likelihood of an escalating price war, with rivals reducing sticker prices to move inventory. Raw-material prices remain high, threatening to push up costs. Interest rates are threatening to rise just as oil is hitting $55 a barrel, all of which hurt sales and raise delivery costs.

These challenges tend to eat into profit margins for auto makers, and could make it harder for Ghosn to keep his promise to retain the lead by this crucial measure. Yet Ghosn has told reporters in the past that a challenging environment helps keep employees motivated.

-By Jathon Sapsford

Nissan Motor Co. (7201.TO) - Tokyo

Year Ended March 31: GROUP 2005 2004 Sales Y8.576 tln Y7.429 tln Operating Profit 861.16 bln 824.86 bln Pretax Profit 855.70 bln 809.69 bln Net Profit 512.28 bln 503.67 bln Per share Earnings 125.16 122.02 Diluted earnings 124.01 120.74

Figures may differ from headline due to rounding.

Results are audited and based on Japanese accounting standards.

Year Ended March 31: PARENT 2005 2004 Sales Y3.719 tln Y3.480 tln Operating Profit 231.76 bln 245.84 bln Pretax Profit 203.71 bln 228.10 bln Net Profit 102.42 bln 80.71 bln Per share Earnings 23.24 18.15 Diluted earnings 23.04 17.97 Dividend 24.00 19.00

Figures may differ from headline due to rounding.

Nissan Motor Co. also released the following forecasts: GROUP Yr Ending Mar 2006 Sales Y9.000 tln Pretax Profit 860.00 bln Net Profit 517.00 bln Per share Earnings 126.77 PARENT Yr Ending Mar 2006 Per share Dividend 29.00 Dow Jones Newswires 04-25-05 0211ET Copyright (C) 2005 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.