New boss, but no new Nissans for a year

Nissan’s sacked Australian chief says the Japanese brand will continue without a mainstream passenger model for at least 18 months, during which time it will continue to rely on SUVs, light commercials and sports cars.

Although there are upgrades coming for the Navara ute and Patrol SUV this year, and the Qashqai crossover in early 2018, Nissan Australia’s next new model will be the second-generation LEAF EV, which will be revealed next week in Japan but remains a year away from local showrooms.

The only passenger models currently sold by the Japanese car-maker Down Under are the two-door 370Z and GT-R sports cars and -- apart from the new LEAF -- that won’t change until at least mid-2019, when at least one new small car could replace the discontinued Micra and Pulsar.

Speaking to motoring.com.au at the 370Z NISMO launch on Tuesday — the day before his shock departure from the company — Nissan Australia managing director Richard Emery said potential new small-cars include Europe’s latest Micra and Pulsar, Japan’s Note, South America’s Kicks crossover and North America’s Sentra (Pulsar sedan).

“They’re the five cars that are in scope if you want to call it that, but you can’t have five small cars and we don’t want all of them, but we’d like some of them,” he said.

“Getting the right mix of cars that suit our marketplace, that fit the specification, customer expectation, pricing, styling, options… and getting the mix right between those five cars – whether there’s two or three of them — that’s the work that is ongoing.

“At this point in time it’s not determined which of those cars would work in Australia and there won’t be any more information before the end of next year. Hopefully it’s within the next 18 months as to which ones will fit.”

Emery, who will be replaced by sister brand Infiniti’s Canadian boss Stephen Lester next week, said at least one of those models will be sold here, but not at the expense of profitability or just to fill showrooms.

“Clearly from all those options we’ll be able to find a solution, but I’m not going to make a decision based on ‘we must have more volume or we must have more cars’,” he said.

“It needs to work for everybody – the investment required, the price and specifications, the customer demand. There’s no point bringing in cars customers don’t want.”

Having made tough decisions to axe uncompetitive, unprofitable and slow-selling models including the Micra, Pulsar, Murano and Altima, Emery said he was in no hurry to re-enter price-sensitive or declining sales segments such as mid-size sedans.

“I think it would be a hard sell to look at mid-sized cars again because the segment continues to decline,” he said.

“There are a couple of cars in the portfolio – new Altima and Maxima – but they’re both currently left-hand drive and I’m not sure the market can sustain that, but we’ll watch that segment carefully.

“If that segment settles down, it’s done its readjustment and it starts to look sustainable then it might be an option, but at this point in time I’m not convinced.”

In its absence from key markets including the light, small, medium and large car segments, Nissan Australia’s sales have continued to fall, by 12.3 per cent to July this year – despite booming Qashqai and X-TRAIL sales.

At the same time, Nissan’s local market share has slumped to 4.4 per cent so far this year, and August VFACTS figures due out next week are expected to show it has dropped to 10th overall behind Toyota, Mazda, Hyundai, Holden, Mitsubishi, Ford, Volkswagen, Subaru and Kia, following a 27 per cent sales slump last month.

Nissan will not comment on the reason for Emery’s sudden departure, saying only that the appointment of Lester, who will report to the head of Nissan sales and marketing in the Asia and Oceania region Vincent Wijnen, is part of the brand’s “next direction”.

“Stephen Lester’s arrival at Nissan Australia coincides with our plans for the brand’s next direction and he brings to our Australian team strong experience, knowledge and business-building skills,” said Yutaka Sanada, Regional Senior Vice President and Head of Nissan in the Asia and Oceania region.

“He takes the reins from Richard Emery, who has successfully guided our Australian operation with steady leadership and business improvements since 2014,” said the Nissan statement.

Given his company’s access to lacklustre passenger cars and its inability to source better models competitively from Europe and the US in the past, some industry pundits say Emery has been made a scapegoat for poor decisions at regional and global management level within Nissan.

When Renault Nissan Alliance boss Carlos Ghosn visited Australia in early June, he said Nissan and its new sister brand Mitsubishi “could do much better in my opinion”.

“I have a hard time understanding why Nissan cannot hold more than six per cent market share in Australia,” he said at the time.

Later that month Mitsubishi announced that its Australia CEO Mutsuhiro Oshikiri would be replaced on July 1 by the company’s local deputy marketing director John Signoriello, and that Oshikiri would replace Mitsubishi Philippines CEO Yoshiaki Kato, who will work alongside Signoriello in Australia.

While it’s not yet clear what Lester’s plans for Nissan Australia are, Emery departs the Renault-Nissan business after three and a half years as local Nissan chief, following other senior positions at Mitsubishi, Audi, Land Rover and Mercedes-Benz.