TOKYO, Feb 9 Reuters Shares in Nissan Motor tumbled 12 on Friday, their biggest decline in more than two decades, after quarterly earnings undershot expectations by a large margin and it cut estimates for car sales due to stiff competition in China.

The emergence of fastgrowing, Chinese brands such as BYD that have rolled out affordable electric cars tailormade for younger Chinese drivers has led to a steady loss of market share for foreign rivals in the world39;s biggest auto market.

The stakes are, however, arguably greater for Nissan, which until 2022 counted China as its largest market. It has also struggled to fully recover after years of internal turmoil sparked by the arrest and downfall of former Chairman Carlos Ghosn.

Compared to rivals Toyota Motor and Honda Motor, Nissan is the most vulnerable in China where it has less brand equity and brand value, said James Hong, head of mobility research at Macquarie.

They feel the most pressure, he said. Many Chinese makers are becoming more and more aggressive and obviously chasing market share.

Friday39;s 11.6 decline wiped out 1.8 billion of Nissan39;s market value.

A day earlier, it reported thirdquarter operating profit of 141.6 billion yen 948 million a fifth lower than an LSEG consensus estimate from analysts and cut its global vehicle sales outlook by 150,000 cars to 3.55 million.

Chief Financial Officer Stephen Ma told reporters the sales forecast was scaled back due to the automaker39;s performance in…