Nissan to switch focus to US, China, Japan and Australia
Struggling Japanese car-maker says its global production will fall from seven million to 5.5m as it doubles its efforts in more lucrative marketsNissan is planning to refocus its resources on succeeding in the United States, China, Japan and Australia under new radical plans to save the car-maker.
According to insiders speaking to Reuters, the new plan -- set to be announced on May 28 -- will attempt to curb the aggressive expansion drive that its ousted leader Carlos Ghosn had set in motion.
In the US, this has led to dealers heavily discounting models and a cheapening of the brand.
As part of the new three-year plan, Nissan will refresh its line-up, stabilise its pricing and increase its profitability.
“This is not just a cost-cutting plan. We’re rationalising operations, reprioritising and refocusing our business to plant seeds for the future,” an insider told the newswire.
Cutting competition and expanding co-operation with its alliance partners will also occur, with Mitsubishi taking a lead in markets outside China and Japan, while Renault will target its electric vehicles within Europe.
In Europe, the new strategy is to maintain a presence, but no more, with hopes pinned on the new JUKE and next-generation QASHQAI.
In Asia, it's a different tact. Nissan hopes to expand sales in Thailand, the Philippines and Australia.
But in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa, Russia, Brazil, Africa and the Middle East the car-maker will reduce the number of models it sells, and is reportedly planning to close up to 14 production facilities as soon as this July.
“For several years, everything was based on volume growth, then we shifted our emphasis to quality of sales, and we did it overnight,” another source told Reuters. “We did it too fast, and that choked our business.”
Streamlining its offering in struggling markets is said to free up resources to invest in products and new technology for the US, China and Japan – and that includes launching new models.
In the next three years Nissan plans to introduce six new or redesigned models in markets like Japan, where it will slash the average age of its models to under 2.5 years.
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