Gender divide to drive Nissan change

Performance, handling, machine and machismo are turning both younger buyers and the fairer sex away from the showroom floor, says Nissan.

The Japanese brand believes women and the younger Gen Y and Z have “lost interest in the car”, and that unless it moves to understand why, it will fail to interest prospective buyers in the future of personal mobility.

Speaking at the Nissan 360 event in the US this week, Nissan’s Director of Global Upstream Planning, Rachel Nguyen, told the gathered press that new technology and gender-specific models are required to meet the changing demands of female and younger buyers.

“New technologies are dismantling existing business models,” said Nguyen. “We see an on-going shift from auto-centric societies to mobility-centric societies, and getting from one place to another is not just dependent on personal vehicle ownership.”

Nguyen said it was this philosophy that resonated most with younger and female buyers, and that increased environmental awareness had adjusted their mindsets when it comes to the independence usually associated with personal mobility.

Nguyen added that Nissan was actively seeking to understand these issues -- and many more -- as it worked to personalise vehicle ownership outside of the “traditional, male-oriented values” of the car.

“We’re not just reacting to the changing realities, we’re actively planning and designing new concepts to deal with them,” stressed Nguyen. “Within the automotive industry globally, women have largely been ignored, and [we find] from our own research [that] they are largely dissatisfied.”

The Nissan spokesperson said that women’s roles in the home, the community and within their careers drive different needs to that of men, and that because women lead very busy lives, they need a vehicle that supports their busy lifestyle, and that isn’t just transport.

She added that it was recognised that women saw the decision to buy a vehicle as an emotional one, and that they don’t see the vehicle merely as a product. It is her understanding that women see that car not just as a tool, but as a space in which they are going to spend time with other people.

To address the issue -- and therefore keep female buyers interested in its products -- the Nissan forecaster said more intuitive technology designed to support women with the multi-tasking of their day-to-day lives, as well as interiors that are well laid out, versatile and warm were important considerations. She said that vehicle interiors need to be a “welcoming and personal space in which they [women] can engage in conversations”.

“We are looking for more ways to add a greater level of personalisation for female customers, and that ‘something’ that will keep them coming back in the long-term,” Nguyen emphasised.

But it seems that the gender split isn’t the only area in which buyers are boycotting new cars. Nissan said it is also actively seeking to engage younger buyers, who prefer to create and connect than simply select from the showroom floor.

Nissan’s crystal ballers say younger buyers have become disinterested with cars, and that technology and environmental concerns were now a greater priority than personal mobility alone.

“Gen Y and Z buyers are not in love with vehicles like the older generations are,” Nguyen said.

“We know they’re in love with their smartphones and their Twitter accounts, but our research also shows that this generation is about being creative, and the issue for us is finding a way that we can connect with these young buyers.

“We believe we can engage younger buyers by actively engaging them with the design of their vehicle,” she concluded.

Nissan said vehicle sharing schemes, short-term rentals and “last-mile” electric vehicles designed to transport people between the home and public transport hubs were all being considered as plans “of interest” to younger buyers. It was a future the Japanese brand says must be anticipated now, and that simply reacting to change was no longer good enough.

It was a sentiment echoed by Nissan’s General Manager of Global Upstream Planning, Francois Bancon. He said that understanding buyer demands early was key to both engagement and brand retention.

“The younger generation has lost interest in the car. Not all, but most,” said Bancon. “They have a very low sense of ownership as an achievement.”

Nissan’s forecasting head said that vehicle modification and customisation was central to keeping both female and younger buyers interested, and that integrating a vehicle’s purpose in line with its owner’s interest set would become increasingly important as ownership behaviours and vehicle usage patterns continue to change.

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