How Nissan is Buying Market Share

Interesting way that Nissan is investing in some dealerships over others.

In its drive to grab more U.S. market share, Nissan North America is quietly forming alliances with selected dealers who get favorable treatment, and sometimes millions of dollars, from the company.

One so-called preferred dealer is Bernie Moreno, who has acquired two Nissan and three Infiniti stores in Ohio in the past six years. To help him ramp up and expand, Nissan promised to give him as much as $6.6 million, according to court documents from a case related to an open Infiniti point awarded to Moreno in Coral Gables, Fla.

For the Coral Gables location, Nissan agreed to give Moreno as much as $4.4 million -- $200,000 when the dealership opens and an additional $120,000 per quarter for up to seven years -- if sales goals are achieved, according to a 2014 agreement signed by Moreno and Nissan. He is also supposed to get $1 million for store improvements -- about twice the amount Nissan normally provides, according to court documents.