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