Nissan's
Comeback
• 17 billion in debt.• Unchanged vehicle designs since late
1980’s.• Brand equity
was deteriorating.
Nissan Before 1999…..
Nissan’s New Begining
• 1999 Hired Carlos Ghosn from Michelin.• Chief operating officer• Installed by Renault, owns 45% of shares.• Cut payrolls and closed plants.• Difficult to adapt to cultural differences within
Nissan.
Nissan Now
• Nissan shares have quadrupled in the past 6 years.
• Gone from brink of bankruptcy and #2 automaker in Japan to most profitable car company in world.
• This April Ghosn assigned President and CEO of Nissan
New Lines• 350z, Maxima, Altima, Titan, Armada, Pathfinder , Xterra, Frontier
and Murano
Strategy
• Reduce Operating Costs (purchasing 50%, manufacturing, distribution).
• Research and development (hire 1,000 engineers a year).
• Working on Hybrid technology (Hybrid Altima in 2006).
• design is recognized and is balanced with engineering, marketing and product planning.
• “We want people to buy our cars because they want our cars. We come out with cars with emotional attributes.” (Carlos Ghosn)
Strategy Continued…
• synergies and commonalities for the sake of better performance through lower costs, higher quality and faster reactions
• Innovation
The Future of Nissan
• Geographical expansion (Russia, India, Africa, South America)
• US expansion (there are six segments where we're not represented).
• Leverage Infiniti• protection of the environment — hybrids, fuel
cells, better combustion engines, better diesel engines.
• Make vehicles more time oriented (possibility to call in a safe way, to communicate with the car, to receive information in the car).
Sources
http://www.smartmoney.com/mag/ceo/index.cfm?story=november2004
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/BUSINESS/04/20/boardroom.ghosn/
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Features/articleId=104633
http://www.freep.com/money/autonews/nissan22e_20050222.htm