The SWOT Analysis of Nissan is as follows: -

Strength: -

1) Global Brand: - According to business Week Global Brand Scorecard Nissan is the
fastest growing automotive brand. Nissan’s brand equity was valued at $3,108
million in 2006. Some of the company’s passenger car models include Maxima,
Sentra, Altima, Versa, Z Roadstar and Z Coupe. Some of its truck models are Quest,
Armada, Pathfinder, Murand and Xterra.

Brand strength provides competitive advantage that can offset the increasing
competition. Over the last five years company has establish the global brand by
focusing on the brand pyramid and dynamics that caters the silky design, the
vibrant experience, the interplay between serenity and driving pleasure has
reached a high level of alignment and consistency
Industry Snapshot
A brief description about industry and sector from Investor's point of view

SATURDAY, JANUARY 20, 2007

Nissan SWOT Analysis

Nissan Motor Company Ltd (Nissan) is Japanese Company engaged in the automotive
industry worldwide. The Company, including its associated brands, designs, produces
and sells more than 3.7 million passenger cars and commercial vehicles in more than
190 countries. The Company is engaged in manufacture and sale of passenger
automobiles, as well as the supply of automobile parts. Major overseas market for
Nissan included Europe, North America, Africa, New Zealand and China.

The Company's major production sites are located in Japan, with additional facilities
located in the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom and Spain. In 1999, the
Company established an alliance with Renault SA, a French automobile manufacturer.
The alliance is designed to achieve profitable and balanced growth for the two partners
through the creation of a bi-national group.

Nissan (Japan) is amongst the top three car manufacturers in Japan and the top five in
the world. As well as its cars, pickups and sports utility vehicles, the company also has
an interest in heavier vehicles and equipment such as vans, trucks, buses, components,
aerospace, industrial machinery and marine equipment.

The SWOT Analysis of Nissan is as follows: -

Strength: -

1) Global Brand: - According to business Week Global Brand Scorecard Nissan is the
fastest growing automotive brand. Nissan’s brand equity was valued at $3,108 million in
2006. Some of the company’s passenger car models include Maxima, Sentra, Altima,
Versa, Z Roadstar and Z Coupe. Some of its truck models are Quest, Armada,
Pathfinder, Murand and Xterra.

Brand strength provides competitive advantage that can offset the increasing
competition. Over the last five years company has establish the global brand by focusing
on the brand pyramid and dynamics that caters the silky design, the vibrant experience,
the interplay between serenity and driving pleasure has reached a high level of
alignment and consistency. That makes it easier to communicate about the brand and
specific features of its model.

2) Global Financial position: - One of the Nissan key strength is its Global Financial
Position. Five year financial highlights are shown below (figures are in USD Millions): -

Source: Nissan annual report 2005-06

From this table we are able to analyze Nissan’s financial position in 3 key areas –
profitability, solvency and liquidity. Return on Assets (ROA) is a key indicator of
profitability and thus, overall financial position and management. Since 2000, Nissan
has a ROA of 5 % which is quite high for a company of such a large size. Furthermore,
Nissan has had a Long Term/Assets Liabilities Ratio of between 0.19 and 0.22. This is
an excellent figure and indicates that Nissan will be able to withstand tough economic
conditions.

One final indicator of the strong financial position held by Nissan is its overall growth.
From FY02 to FY06 inclusive, Nissan experienced an annual average of 13.8% revenue
growth, 11.33% net income growth and 15.62% asset growth. These figures strongly
support the argument that Nissan globally is in a strong financial position and will be
able to provide Nissan Europe with backing to compete in the saturated European
market.

3) Renault-Nissan Alliance: - The alliance has provided advantages to both companies.

They can move into new markets faster and with lower costs because they don't have to
build new plants. (Renault builds cars in Nissan's Mexico plants and Nissan uses
Renault's Brazil plant and distribution networks) The companies are collaborating on
building common platforms, components and engines, and each company leads engine
design in their area of expertise--Renault in diesel and Nissan in gasoline. And they have
increased purchasing power because they buy components for six million cars not three
as will be in the case of Nissan alone. The alliance has so far boosted the profitability,
market capitalization and sales in 192 countries for both partners. CEO and president of
Renault to his titles in 2005, says he'll rely on the strengths of two distinct work forces:
French innovation in concept stages and Japanese dedication to process in
manufacturing.

Weakness: -

1) Dependence in overseas market: - Nissan produced a total of 3,378,000 units globally

in FY2004. 1,482,000 million units of them were made at home and 1,896,000 units
abroad. Nissan produces more vehicle abroad than at home. Increasingly dependent on
overseas production indicating their pace of globalization. Nissan overseas dependency
of operating income is over 50% which show they are in the fast lane of globalization.

The major risk of increasing dependency in other market is the risk associated with
country in operation, financial transaction, and government policy. The figure below
shows the declining share of total revenue at home and increasing share of overseas
revenue. FY05-06 shows other foreign countries share as 10.6 against the 4.7 in FY03-
04 which offset the revenue of Japan by 5%, while other proportion of total revenue
remains the same.

2) Product Innovation time lag; - Nissan launched two new or redesigned vehicles, in
comparison to 14 in the three previous years. Nissan has misjudged its model strategy in
the United States over the past few years. Like the other Japanese automakers, the
company was a relative late-comer to the country's high-profit margin and high-volume
pick-up markets. Nissan's late entry meant that it has suffered from the decline in the
sector as a result of rising fuel prices in the United States, While Toyota and Nissan have
been well placed to benefit from a shift in emphasis in the U.S. market towards compact
sales as a result of the Scion and Civic models respectively, Nissan at the moment has no
competitive offering in this segment. However, there are a number of new models that
should reinvigorate the company's fortunes in the United States, including the Sentra
and Altima mid-size sedans, as well as its luxury-brand Infiniti G35 sedan. The company
also desperately needs new offering in key segments in the European market. The
Almera C-segment hatchback and Primera D-segment sedan are hopelessly outmoded
and largely ignored by European buyers, although the new Note small multi-purpose
vehicle (MPV) should provide Nissan with a sales success in Europe.
3) Lack of Diesel Technology: - In the Japanese market, diesel accounts for only 0.4% of
vehicles sold (Rowley, 2006). In contrast, diesel is very popular and its share in overall
sales has been increasing. In the year ending 1st January 2006 the number of diesel cars
sold increased by 7.5%. Some analysts believe that the diesel market will account for
more than 80% of total vehicle sales in Europe by the end of 2008. Diesel technology
has been improving significantly over the past decade reducing emissions, fuel
consumption and cost. As Nissan’s home country has a low demand for diesel engines,
Nissan lacks the technology and experience to produce diesel engines of comparative
quality.

Opportunity

1) Asia market: -Lower penetration coupled with strong rise in income levels, led to
continuous jumps in car sales in markets like china and India. In fact china, followed by
India is estimated to be major growth driver in the next decade. Hence it is necessary for
global player to be present in these countries. Therefore all global players either have
products for these markets or planning to develop products to enter into these markets.
In India in year 2004-05 domestic sales of car and utility vehicles has crossed the 1
million mark.

2) Relocate its manufacturing unit to reduce cost: - The Japanese car maker has stepped
up their policy of producing where demand exists. Car making is a industry situated at a
forefront of globalization and major player is accelerating their cross border activities.
Manufacturing units in America and Europe have huge capacities in line with their vast
domestic automobile output. While this offered them the benefits of scale, the
continuous sluggish growth in their local market and their inflationary increase in
production cost, especially wage cost. Adoption of cost reduction measure became
imperative for players to survive. China, India and Thailand have been regarded as the
Low Cost Production bases with their unique offering to the outsourcers. Low cost
country will provide them the global clientele and technology and also have synergetic
operation. Area of opportunity for India lies in the products which have high level of
design and engineering requirements, low level of automation and significant assembly
requirement.

3) Renault-Nissan Purchasing Organization (RNPO): - The RNPO, which was

established in 2001 in the early stages of the alliance, was one of the key ways in which
Renault-Nissan would combine their resources to create a more efficient organization.
Currently Nissan and Renault share 60% of the same part and raw material suppliers.
This has led Nissan to achieve greater purchasing power and has served to reduce costs
and reduce the bargaining power of suppliers. There still remains significant
opportunity through the RNPO to decrease costs and provide increased competitive
advantage.

Threats

1) Cross-Cultural Disharmony: - As Nissan and Renault become further integrated with

one another, the risk of cross-cultural disharmony increases. If disharmony occurs then,
as occurred at DaimlerChrysler, overall company performance may be reduced and the
current strengths that the Alliance provides may become instabilities. Nissan is
currently working to reduce the likelihood through its 'Business Way' program but
corporate and national culture takes a long time to change.

2) Rising Commodity Prices: - Due to the economic expansion of China, changes in

commodity prices could affect the costs incurred by Nissan. Over the past 12 months,
the price of steel used in car production has risen by nearly 30% (London Metal
Exchange, 2006). Nissan has taken steps to reduce the effect of rising steel prices; in
2000, Nissan began using hot dip zinc coated steel and converted to less expensive steel
in 2002, which saved about $16 million per year (Nissan Motor Co., 2004). This
however, has done little to reduce the upward pressure on vehicle costs and prices. As
this increase in cost has been passed on to the consumer, demand for new vehicles has
reduced. This threatens Nissan's viability in the region.

3) Market saturation: - With overall industry sales number stagnant, if not declining in
key economies term, the overall automobile industry has been significantly impacted.
Due to overall market saturation, the individual company new product development
strategy towards market expansion is changing from iterative year on year model
changes to drastic innovation. The emergence of SUV market few years back is an
evidence of how product and market innovation has changed the very composition of US
auto market.

POSTED BY SUMIT AGRAWAL AT 9:56 AM

Nissan Motors
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
"Nissan" redirects here. For the Hebrew month, see Nisan. For other uses, see Nissan
(disambiguation).

Nissan Motor Company Ltd

Nissan Jidosha Kabushiki-gaisha

日産自動車株式会社

Public (TYO: 7201; Pink

Type
Sheets: NSANY)

• Automotive
• Financial services
Industry

• Engineering

Founded December 26, 1933

Founder(s) • Kenjiro Den

• Rokuro Aoyama
• Meitaro Takeuchi
 • Yoshisuke Aikawa

Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan

Headquarters (Officially registered in Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama,

Kanagawa)

Area served Worldwide

• Carlos Ghosn (President and Co-

Chairman)

Key people
• Toshiyuki Shiga (President and Co-
Chairman, COO)

• Automobiles
• Outboard Motors
Products

• Forklift Trucks

Production
4,080,588 (2010)
output

¥7.517 trillion / $80.92 billion FY 2009

Revenue [1]

Operating ¥ 311.6 billion / $3.35 billion FY 2009

[1]
income

Net income ¥ 42.4 billion / $460 million FY 2009 [1]

30,718 (non-consolidated basis)

Employees
175,766 (consolidated basis)[2]

• Infiniti
• NISMO
Divisions

• Infiniti Performance Line

• Nissan Forklift
• Nissan Marine
Subsidiaries

• Autech

Website nissan-global.com
Nissan Motor Company Ltd (Japanese: 日産自動車株式会社 Nissan Jidōsha Kabushiki-
gaisha?) (TYO: 7201), usually shortened to Nissan ( /ˈniːsɑːn/ or UK /ˈnɪsæn/; Japanese:
[nisːaɴ]), is a multinational automaker headquartered in Japan. It was formerly a core member
of the Nissan Group, but has become more independent after its restructuring under Carlos
Ghosn (CEO).

It formerly marketed vehicles under the "Datsun" brand name and is one of the largest car
manufacturers in the world. As of 2011, the company's global headquarters is located in Nishi-
ku, Yokohama. In 1999, Nissan entered a two way alliance with Renault S.A. of France, which
owns 43.4% of Nissan while Nissan holds 15% of Renault shares, as of 2008. The current market
share of Nissan, along with Honda and Toyota, in American auto sales represent the largest of
the automotive firms based in Asia that have been increasingly encroaching on the historically
dominant US-based "Big Three" consisting of GM, Ford and Chrysler. In its home market,
Nissan is the third largest car manufacturer, with Honda being second by a small margin of 2,000
units and Toyota in a very dominant first. Along with its normal range of models, Nissan also
produces a range of luxury models branded as Infiniti.

The Nissan VQ engines, of V6 configuration, have been featured among World's 10 Best
Engines for 14 straight years.

Contents
[hide]

• 1 History
o 1.1 Beginnings of Datsun name from 1914
o 1.2 Nissan name first used in 1930s
o 1.3 Nissan Motors founded in 1934
o 1.4 Nissan's early American connection
o 1.5 Relationship with Ford Motor Company
o 1.6 Austin Motor Company
o 1.7 Merger with Prince Motor Company
o 1.8 Foreign expansion
o 1.9 Trucks
o 1.10 Alliance with Renault
o 1.11 Expansion of alliance to include both Daimler and Renault
• 2 Nissan Motor Co v. Nissan Computer Corporation
• 3 Recent news
o 3.1 Vehicle recalls
• 4 Environmental record
• 5 Leadership
• 6 Products
o 6.1 Automotive products
 6.1.1 Electric vehicles
o 6.2 Non-automotive products
 • 7 Global sales figures
• 8 Manufacturing locations
• 9 See also
• 10 Notes and references

• 11 External links

[edit] History
[edit] Beginnings of Datsun name from 1914

Nissan Model 70 Phaeton, 1938

Nissan headquarters in Nishi-ku, Yokohama

The new car's name was an acronym of the company's partners' family names:

• Kenjiro Den (田 健次郎 Den Kenjirō?)

• Rokuro Aoyama (青山 禄朗 Aoyama Rokurō?)
• Meitaro Takeuchi (竹内 明太郎 Takeuchi Meitarō?).

It was renamed to Kwaishinsha Motorcar Co. in 1918, and again to DAT Motorcar Co. in
1925. DAT Motors built trucks in addition to the DAT and Datsun passenger cars. The vast
majority of its output were trucks, due to an almost non-existent consumer market for passenger
cars at the time. Beginning in 1918, the first DAT trucks were produced for the military market.
It was the low demand of the military market in the 1920s that forced DAT to merge in 1926
with Japan's 2nd most successful truck maker, Jitsuyo Motors.

In 1926 the Tokyo-based DAT Motors merged with the Osaka-based Jitsuyo Jidosha Co., Ltd.
(実用自動車製造株式会社 Jitsuyō Jidōsha Seizō Kabushiki-Gaisha?) a.k.a. Jitsuyo Motors
(established 1919, as a Kubota subsidiary) to become DAT Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
(ダット自動車製造株式会社 Datto Jidōsha Seizō Kabushiki-Gaisha?) in Osaka until 1932.

In 1931, DAT came out with a new smaller car, the first "Datson", meaning "Son of DAT". Later
in 1933 after Nissan took control of DAT Motors, the last syllable of Datson was changed to
"sun", because "son" also means "loss" (損) in Japanese, hence the name "Datsun" (ダットサン
Dattosan?).[3]

In 1933, the company name was Nipponized to Jidosha-Seizo Co., Ltd. (自動車製造株式会社
Jidōsha Seizō Kabushiki-Gaisha?, "Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd.") and was moved to
Yokohama.

[edit] Nissan name first used in 1930s

First President Yoshisuke Aikawa in 1939

In 1928, Yoshisuke Aikawa founded the holding company Nippon Sangyo (Japan Industries or
Nippon Industries). "The name 'Nissan' originated during the 1930s as an abbreviation"[4] used on
the Tokyo stock market for Nippon Sangyo. This company was the famous Nissan "Zaibatsu"
(combine) which included Tobata Casting and Hitachi. At this time Nissan controlled foundries
and auto parts businesses, but Aikawa did not enter automobile manufacturing until 1933.[5]

Nissan would eventually grow to include 74 firms, and to be the fourth-largest combine in Japan
during World War II.[6]

In 1930, Aikawa purchased controlling(?) shares in DAT Motors, and then in 1933 it merged
Tobata Casting's automobile parts department with DAT Motors. As Tobata Casting was a
Nissan company, this was the beginning of Nissan's automobile manufacturing.[7]
[edit] Nissan Motors founded in 1934

In 1934, Aikawa "separated the expanded automobile parts division of Tobata Casting and
incorporated it as a new subsidiary, which he named Nissan Motor (Nissan)". Nissan Motor Co.,
Ltd. (日産自動車 Nissan Jidōsha?). The shareholders of the new company however were not
enthusiastic about the prospects of the automobile in Japan, so Aikawa bought out all the Tobata
Casting shareholders (using capital from Nippon Industries) in June, 1934. At this time Nissan
Motors effectively became owned by Nippon Sangyo and Hitachi.[8]

Nissan built trucks, airplanes, and engines for the Japanese military. The company's main plant
was moved to China after land there was captured by Japan. The plant made machinery for the
Japanese war effort until it was captured by American and Russian forces. From 1947 to 1948
the company was called Nissan Heavy Industries Corp.

[edit] Nissan's early American connection

DAT had inherited Kubota's chief designer, American William R. Gorham. This, along with
Aikawa's inspiring 1908 visit to Detroit, was to greatly affect Nissan's future.

Although it had always been Aikawa's intention to use cutting-edge auto making technology
from America, it was Gorham that carried out the plan. All the machinery, vehicle designs and
engine designs originally came out of the United States. Much of the tooling came from the
Graham factory and Nissan had a Graham license under which trucks were made. The machinery
was imported into Japan by Mitsubishi[9] on behalf of Nissan, which went into the first
Yokohama factory to produce cars.

[edit] Relationship with Ford Motor Company

From 1993 to 2002, Nissan partnered with Ford to market the Mercury Villager and the Nissan
Quest. The two minivans were manufactured with all the same parts and were virtually identical
aside from several cosmetic differences. In 2002, Ford discontinued the Villager to make room
for its Freestar and Monterey. Nissan brought out a new version of the Quest in 2004, which was
designed in-house and no longer bore any relation to Ford's models.

In 1992, Nissan relaunched its Terrano four-wheel drive, which was cosmetically and
mechanically identical to the Ford Maverick. Both cars were built in Spain. Although the
Maverick was discontinued in 1998 due to disappointing sales, the Nissan Terrano was a strong
seller and remained in production until 2005, when it was replaced by the Nissan Pathfinder.

[edit] Austin Motor Company

In early 1950s, Nissan partnered with an established European company to gain access to up-to-
date automobile and engine designs. Nissan chose Austin of the United Kingdom, which later
became the British Motor Corporation by its merger with Morris et al. Nissan began building
Austin 7s in 1930, though the legitimacy of their license at that time is debated. After the success
of Nissan, Hino and Isuzu followed to partner with Renault and Hillman respectively.[10]
In 1952 Nissan Motor Company of Japan entered into a legal agreement with Austin ,[11] for
Nissan to assemble 2,000 Austins from imported partially assembled sets and sell them in Japan
under the Austin trademark. The agreement called for Nissan to make all Austin parts locally
within three years, a goal Nissan met. Nissan produced and marketed Austins for seven years.
The agreement also gave Nissan rights to use Austin patents, which Nissan used in developing its
own engines for its Datsun line of cars. In 1953 British-built Austins were assembled and sold,
but by 1955, the Austin A50 -- completely built by Nissan and featuring a slightly larger body
with new 1489 cc engine—was on the market in Japan. Nissan produced 20,855 Austins from
1953-1959.[12]

Nissan leveraged the Austin patents to further develop their own modern engine designs past
what the Austin's A- and B-family designs offered. The apex of the Austin-derived engines was
the new design A series engine in 1967. Also in 1967 Nissan introduced its new highly advanced
four cylinder overhead cam (OHC) Nissan L engine, which while similar to Mercedes-Benz
OHC designs was a totally new engine designed by Nissan. This engine powered the new Datsun
510, which gained Nissan respect in the worldwide sedan market. Then, in 1969 Nissan
introduced the Datsun 240Z sports car which used a six-cylinder variation of the L series engine.
The 240Z was an immediate sensation and lifted Nissan to world class status in the automobile
market.[citation needed]

[edit] Merger with Prince Motor Company

In 1966, Nissan merged with the Prince Motor Company, bringing more upmarket cars,
including the Skyline and Gloria, into its selection. The Prince name was eventually abandoned,
and successive Skylines and Glorias bore the Nissan name. "Prince," however, is still used in the
names of certain Japanese Nissan dealerships. Nissan introduced a new luxury brand for the US
market in 1989 called Infiniti.

[edit] Foreign expansion

In the 1950s, Nissan decided to expand into worldwide markets. Nissan management realized
their Datsun small car line would fill an unmet need in markets such as Australia and the world's
largest car market, the United States. They first showed cars at the 1959 Los Angeles Auto Show
and sold a few that year in the United States. The company formed a U.S. subsidiary, Nissan
Motor Corporation U.S.A., in 1959, headed by Yutaka Katayama. Nissan continued to improve
their sedans with the latest technological advancements and chic Italianate styling in sporty cars
such as the Datsun Fairlady roadsters, the race-winning 411 series, the Datsun 510 and the
world-class Datsun 240Z, and by 1970, they had become one of the world's largest exporters of
automobiles.
Nissan GT-R

In the wake of the 1973 oil crisis, consumers worldwide (especially in the lucrative U.S. market)
began turning in rapidly increasing numbers to high-quality small economy cars. To meet the
growing demand, the company built new factories in Mexico, Australia, Taiwan and South
Africa.

The "Chicken Tax" of 1964 placed a 25% tax on imported commercial vans.[13] In response,
Nissan, Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. began building plants in the U.S. in the early
80s.[13]

Nissan's initial assembly plant, in Smyrna, Tennessee, at first built only trucks such as the 720
and Hardbody, but has since expanded to produce several car and SUV lines, including the
Altima, Maxima, Xterra and Pathfinder. An engine plant in Decherd, Tennessee followed, and
most recently a second assembly plant in Canton, Mississippi.

In 1998 Nissan announced that it was selling one of its headquarter buildings to the Mori Group
for $107.8 million.[14]

In order to overcome export tariffs and delivery costs to its European customers, Nissan
contemplated establishing a plant in Europe. After an extensive review, Sunderland in the north
east of the United Kingdom was chosen for the local availability of a highly skilled workforce
and its position near major ports. The plant was completed in 1986 as the subsidiary Nissan
Motor Manufacturing (UK) Ltd. By 2007, it was producing 400,000 vehicles per year, landing it
the highly coveted title of the most productive plant in Europe.

Financial difficulties (approaching billions) in Australia in the late 1980s caused Nissan to cease
production there. Due to the "Button Plan" the Australian operation was unique as the Nissan
products were also rebranded both by General Motors Holden: Pulsar as the Holden Astra), and
Ford: Bluebird as the Ford Corsair).

In 2005, Nissan setup operations in India, through its subsidiary Nissan Motors India Pvt. Ltd.[15]
With its global alliance partner, Renault, Nissan is investing $920 Million to set up a
manufacturing facility in Chennai to cater to the Indian market as well as a base for exports of
small cars to Europe.[16]

Nissan sold nearly 520,000 new vehicles in China in 2009 in joint venture with Dongfeng Motor,
and aims for 1 million in 3 or 4 years. To meet that target, Dongfeng-Nissan is expanding its
production base in Guangzhou, which would become Nissan's largest factory around the globe in
terms of production capacity upon completion.[17]

[edit] Trucks
2006 Nissan Titan King Cab

The Nissan Titan was introduced in 2004, as a full-size pickup truck produced for the North
American market, the truck shares the stretched Nissan F-Alpha platform with the Nissan
Armada and Infiniti QX56 SUVs.

The Titan features a 32 valve 5.6 L VK56DE V8 engine which generates 317 hp, and is capable
of towing approximately 9500 pounds. The Nissan Titan comes in four basic trim levels: XE, SE,
Pro-4X, and LE; that for the 2011 it will be S, SV, PRO-4X and SL.The trim levels are
combinations of the features offered on the truck. It was listed by Edmunds.com as the best full-
size truck. The Titan was nominated for the North American Truck of the Year award for 2004.

[edit] Alliance with Renault

In 1999, with Nissan facing severe financial difficulties, Nissan entered an alliance with Renault
S.A. of France.[18]

Signed on March 27, 1999, the Renault-Nissan Alliance is the first of its kind involving a
Japanese and French car manufacturer, each with its own distinct corporate culture and brand
identity. The same year, Renault appointed its own Chief Operating Officer, Carlos Ghosn, as
Chief Operating Officer of Nissan and took a 22.5% stake in Nissan Diesel. Later that year,
Nissan fired its top Japanese executives.

The Renault-Nissan Alliance has evolved over years to Renault holding 44.3% of Nissan shares,
while Nissan holds 15% of Renault shares which does not give Nissan a voting or board
representation due to legal restriction in France.

Under CEO Ghosn's "Nissan Revival Plan" (NRP), the company has rebounded in what many
leading economists consider to be one of the most spectacular corporate turnarounds in history,
catapulting Nissan to record profits and a dramatic revitalization of both its Nissan and Infiniti
model line-ups. In 2001, the company initiated Nissan 180, capitalizing on the success of the
NRP. The targets set with 180 were an additional sale of 1 million cars, achieving operating
margins of 8%, and to have zero automotive debts. Ghosn has been recognized in Japan for the
company's turnaround in the midst of an ailing Japanese economy. Ghosn and the Nissan
turnaround were featured in Japanese manga and popular culture. His achievements in
revitalizing Nissan were noted by Japanese Government, which awarded him the Japan Medal
with Blue Ribbon in 2004.[19]

[edit] Expansion of alliance to include both Daimler and Renault

Nissan Motors New Headquarters under construction in April 2008

On April 7, 2010, Daimler AG exchanged a 3.9% share of its holdings for 3.9% from both
Nissan and Renault. This triple alliance allows for the increased sharing of technology and
development costs, encouraging global cooperation and mutual development.[20] The alliance
with Daimler is believed to have a focus on battery/electric technologies.

[edit] Nissan Motor Co v. Nissan Computer Corporation

In December 1999, legal action was instituted by Nissan Motors seeking $10,000,000 in
damages from Uzi Nissan, president of Nissan Computer. In December 2002, Uzi Nissan was
handed an injunction restricting his use of the Nissan name and the domains Nissan.com and
Nissan.net which he owns.

In 2004, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, allowed Nissan Computer to appeal the case, which
resulted in reversal of some findings previously in favor of Nissan Motors.[21]

On February 5, 2008, Final Judgement was entered for the case, with Nissan Computer being
awarded costs and neither party prevailing.[22] Immediately following the ruling, Nissan Motors
filed a trademark application for Computer Equipment in March 2008,[23] viewed by some as an
attempt to acquire the domain through UDRP, an arbitration panel proceeding which often finds
in favor of trademark holders.

[edit] Recent news

Current CEO Carlos Ghosn has been credited with reviving Nissan

In 2010, Nissan announced that its own hybrid technology no longer is based on Toyota's.

On April 7, 2010, Daimler AG exchanged a 3.9% share of its holdings for 3.9% from both
Nissan and Renault. This triple alliance allows for the increased sharing of technology and
development costs, encouraging global cooperation and mutual development.[20]

The Nissan Note and Qashqai in the UK are both produced at their UK factory in Sunderland,
Tyne & Wear. On January 9, 2009, it was announced that 1,200 jobs were to be cut at the
Sunderland plant. The decision was blamed on economic reasons, including a downturn in the
car selling market. Nissan's senior vice-president for manufacturing in Europe, Trevor Mann,
said the company was "right-sizing our operations to the market demand."[24]

Nissan also produces cars at its factory at Roslyn, near Pretoria, South Africa.

Nissan North America relocated its headquarters from Gardena, California to the Nashville,
Tennessee area in July 2006. A new headquarters, Nissan Americas, was dedicated on July 22,
2008, in Cool Springs (Nashville, Tennessee). Approximately 1500 employees work in the
facility.

On June 30, 2006, General Motors convened an emergency board meeting to discuss a proposal
by shareholder Kirk Kerkorian to form an alliance between GM and Renault-Nissan. On October
4, 2006, however, GM and Nissan terminated talks because of the chasm between the two
companies related to compensation to GM from Nissan.

On May 17, 2006 Nissan released the Atlas 20 hybrid truck in Japan. It released a Cabstar hybrid
truck at the 2006 Hannover Fair.

The company's head office moved from Tokyo back to Yokohama in August 2009.
On February 23, 2008 The Tamil Nadu state government (India) signed a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) with auto manufacturing consortium, Mahindra-Renault- Nissan to set up a
production unit at Oragadam in suburban Madras.

The consortium comprising Indian auto major Mahindra and Mahindra, Renault (France) and
Nissan (Japan) will begin with an initial investment of Rs4000 crore to manufacture nearly
50,000 tractors every year other than cars, utility vehicles and spare parts. The project is
expected to increase Tamil Nadu’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by Rs18,000 crore annually
while providing 41,000 jobs.

Nissan began development of fuel-cell vehicles (FCVs) in 1996 and launched limited lease sales
of the X-Trail FCV in Japan in fiscal year 2003.

In 2002, Toyota and Nissan agree to tie-up on hybrid technologies, and in 2004, Nissan unveiled
the Altima hybrid prototype.

[edit] Vehicle recalls

On March 2, 2010 Nissan announced the recall of 540,000 vehicles to fix brake pedals and gas
gauges. The brake pedal recall affects 179,000 vehicles in the US and about 26,000 in the Middle
East, Canada, Russia and several other countries.

Certain 2008 to 2010 Nissan Titan pickups, Infiniti QX56 and Nissan Armada Sports Utility
Vehicles, and some 2008 and 2009 Nissan Quest minivans are being recalled.[25]

Nissan also announced the recall of several models of trucks and SUVs, including 2004–2006
Armadas and Titans, 2005–2006 Infiniti QX56s, and Frontiers, Pathfinders and Xterras made in
August 2003 and June 2006. The recall was made in response to a risk that the electrical relays in
the engine control modules for those vehicles may fail, possibly rendering the engine inoperable.
The recall affects about 2,200,000 cars worldwide.[26]

[edit] Environmental record

Nissan Leaf at the 2010 Washington Auto Show, where it was announced as winner of the 2010
Green Car Vision Award by the Green Car Journal.
Prior to announcements about the Nissan Leaf, Nissan Motors has had no special environmental
record, at least as perceived relative to its competition. This may change in the future owing to a
new emphasis on the development, production and marketing of electric automobiles. Nissan is
planning to sell electric cars in the US coastal markets by December 2010, and within the US
interior by June 2011. The company claims its EV model, the Nissan Leaf, has a maximum
speed of 90 mph (140 km/h) and can go 100 miles per charge. It is projected to take eight hours
to charge the car fully. Nissan's car uses a lithium ion battery. The vehicle is intended for short
distances, and is not meant for replacing traditional cars for long trips. As with other electric cars
these products from Nissan won't emit pollutants from their exhaust. Any pollution involved in
their operation would come from the production of the electricity needed to charge the car,
depending on the type of power generation facility.[27] Nissan has chosen to develop 100 percent
electric cars rather than biofuel or ethanol running cars based upon cost analysis.[28] On May 12,
2009, Nissan announced the company will produce EVs at its Oppama plant from fall 2010 with
capacity of 50,000 units a year. Batteries for EVs will be supplied by Automotive Energy Supply
Corporation, a joint-venture between Nissan (51%), NEC Corporation (42%) and NEC TOKIN
Corporation (7%).[29]

[edit] Leadership
Presidents and Chief Executive Officers of Nissan:

• 1933–1939 Yoshisuke Aikawa

• 1939–1942 Masasuke Murakami
• 1942–1944 Genshichi Asahara
• 1944–1945 Haruto Kudo
• 1945 Takeshi Murayama
• 1945–1947 Souji Yamamoto
• 1947–1951 Taichi Minoura
• 1951–1957 Genshichi Asahara
• 1957–1973 Katsuji Kawamata
• 1973–1977 Tadahiro Iwakoshi
• 1977–1985 Takashi Ishihara
• 1985–1992 Yutaka Kume
• 1992–1996 Yoshifume Tsuji
• 1996–2000 Yoshikazu Hanawa
• 2000–present Carlos Ghosn

[edit] Products
[edit] Automotive products
Older Style Nissan Logo (1984-2001)
Main articles: List of Nissan vehicles and List of Nissan engines.

Nissan has produced an extensive range of mainstream cars and trucks, initially for domestic
consumption but exported around the world since the 1950s. There was a major strike in 1953.

It also produced several memorable sports cars, including the Datsun Fairlady 1500, 1600 and
2000 Roadsters, the Z-car, an affordable sports car originally introduced in 1969; and the GT-R,
a powerful all-wheel-drive sports coupe.

In 1985, Nissan created a tuning division, NISMO, for competition and performance
development of such cars. One of Nismo's latest models is the 370Z NISMO.

Until 1982, Nissan automobiles in most export markets were sold under the Datsun brand. Since
1989, Nissan has sold its luxury models in North America under the Infiniti brand.

Nissan also sells a small range of kei cars, mainly as a joint venture with other Japanese
manufacturers like Suzuki or Mitsubishi. Nissan does not develop these cars. Nissan also has
shared model development of Japanese domestic cars with other manufacturers, particularly
Mazda, Subaru, Suzuki and Isuzu.

In China, Nissan produces cars in association with the Dongfeng Motor Group including the
2006 Nissan Livina Geniss. This is the first in the range of a new worldwide family of medium
sized cars and is to make its world debut at the Guangzhou International Motor Show.

Nissan launches Qashqai SUV in South Africa, along with their new motorsport Qashqai Car
Games.

In 2010, Nissan created another tuning division,IPL, this time for their premium/luxury brand
Infiniti.

[edit] Electric vehicles

Main article: Nissan electric vehicle

Nissan will launch electric cars in Europe in 2010 with different business models in different
countries.[30]
Nissan Motor Co. has nearly completed development of a lithium-ion battery using a lithium
nickel manganese cobalt oxide cathode (NMC). The new system, which will reportedly offer
almost double the capacity of Nissan/AESC’s current manganese spinel cell.[31]

The new Nissan Leaf is expected to be marketed in North America, Europe, and Japan,
beginning in late 2010. Nissan has announced it will manufacture the new Leaf compact electric
car at its Sunderland plant in the UK. The annual production capacity will be 50,000 vehicles at
Sunderland.[32]

[edit] Non-automotive products

Nissan has also had a number of ventures outside the automotive industry, most notably the Tu-
Ka mobile phone service (est. 1994), which was sold to DDI and Japan Telecom (both now
merged into KDDI Corporation) in 1999. Nissan also owns Nissan Marine, a joint venture with
Tohatsu Corp that produces motors for boats and other maritime equipment.

[edit] Global sales figures

Calendar Year Global Sales
1998 2,555,962
1999 2,629,044
2000 2,632,876
2001 2,580,757
2002 2,735,932
2003 2,968,357
2004 3,295,830
2005 3,597,851
2006 3,477,837
2007 3,675,574
2008 3,708,074
2009 3,358,413
2010 4,080,588

[edit] Manufacturing locations

Data extracted from Nissan's international corporate website.[33]
World locations of Nissan Motors factories

• Japan
o Oppama, Yokosuka, Kanagawa (Oppama Plant & Research Center)
o Kaminokawa, Tochigi (Tochigi Plant)
o Kanda, Fukuoka (Kyushu Plant & Nissan Shatai Kyushu Plant)[34]
o Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa (Yokohama Plant)
o Iwaki, Fukushima (Iwaki Plant)
o Hiratsuka, Kanagawa (Nissan Shatai Shonan Plant)
o Nagoya, Aichi (Aichi Machine Industry Atsuta & Eitoku Plants)
o Matsusaka, Mie (Aichi Machine Industry Matsusaka Plant)
o Tsu, Mie (Aichi Machine Industry Tsu Plant)
o Uji, Kyoto (Auto Works Kyoto)
o Ageo, Saitama (Nissan Diesel Motor, currently owned by the Volvo Group)
o Samukawa, Kanagawa (Nissan Kohki[dead link])
o Zama, Kanagawa (Zama Plant closed in 1995, currently Global Production
Engineering Center and storage unit for its historic models)
• India
o Oragadam, Chennai
• Brazil
o São José dos Pinhais, Paraná
• Indonesia
o Cikampek, West Java
• Iran
o Karaj, Tehran
• Malaysia
o Segambut, Kuala Lumpur
o Serendah, Selangor
• Mexico
o Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes
o Cuernavaca, Morelos
• Morocco
o Tangier, Tangier Med port (Under construction, Renault-Nissan plant)
• Egypt
 o 6th of October City, 6th of October Governorate
• Pakistan
o Karachi, Sindh
• Philippines
o Santa Rosa City, Laguna
• South Africa
o Rosslyn, Pretoria, Gauteng.
• Spain
o Barcelona
o Ávila
o Cantabria
o Montcada i Reixac
• Thailand
o Bangna, Samutprakarn
• Republic of China
o Taipei, Taiwan
• United Kingdom
o Sunderland, County Durham, North East England
• United States
o Smyrna, Tennessee
o Canton, Mississippi
o Decherd, Tennessee
• Russia
o St. Petersburg, Russia (Completion 2010)

[edit] See also

Tokyo portal

Companies portal

Japanese Car portal

• Autech
• Ashok Leyland Nissan Vehicles
• Nissan Diesel
• Nissan Group
• Datsun
• Renault
• Infiniti
• Jatco
• Dongfeng Motor Company
• Dongfeng Nissan-Diesel Company
• List of Nissan vehicles
• List of Nissan engines
• Nissan Proving Grounds
 • Laurence Hartnett
• Project Better Place
• NEC
• Nissan Engine Museum
• Yokohama F. Marinos
• Carlos Ghosn
• Yutaka Katayama
• Nissan Stadium
• Nismo
• Yulon

[edit] Notes and references

1. ^ a b c http://www.nissan-
global.com/EN/DOCUMENT/PDF/FINANCIAL/REFERENCE/CONSOLIDATION/2009/2009results_su
mmary_124_e.pdf
2. ^ NISSAN | CORPORATE INFORMATION | Outline of Company TOP
3. ^ Cusumano page 33
4. ^ Cusumano pp 28
5. ^ Cusumano pp 28, 30, 33
6. ^ Cusumano pp 28, 30
7. ^ Cusumano pp 30.
8. ^ Cusumano, page 37
9. ^ "Awful" (1935-01-21)- Retrieved 2007-06-11
10. ^ Alan Bent Austin A40 and A50
11. ^ Cususmano
12. ^ Cusumano, pp 90-92
13. ^ a b "To Outfox the Chicken Tax, Ford Strips Its Own Vans". The Wall Street Journal, Matthew
Dolan, September 22, 2009. September 23, 2009.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125357990638429655.html.
14. ^ Shuchman, Lisa. "Nissan Will Sell Building in Tokyo To Mori Group for $107.8 Million." The
Wall Street Journal. Friday September 25, 1998. Retrieved on March 8, 2010.
15. ^ "Nissan - Corporate Information". Nissan.in.
http://www.nissan.in/en/web/header/header_4385.htm. Retrieved 2009-12-04.
16. ^ "Nissan launches 2 new cars in India- Automobiles-Auto-News By Industry-News-The
Economic Times". Economictimes.indiatimes.com. 2009-09-16.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5019205.cms. Retrieved 2009-12-04.
17. ^ "Nissan’s Second Guangzhou Factory Breaks Ground". ChinaAutoWeb.com.
http://chinaautoweb.com/2010/05/nissans-second-guangzhou-factory-breaks-ground/. Retrieved 2010-05-
21.
18. ^ "Nissan Global". http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/COMPANY/ALLIANCE/index.html.[dead link]
19. ^ 平成 16 年春の褒章受章者名簿 METI (Japanese)
20. ^ a b "Daimler, Nissan and Renault announce three-way tie-up". BBC News. April 7, 2010.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8606593.stm. Retrieved May 20, 2010.
21. ^ Case CV-99-12980-DDP United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
22. ^ Nissan.com Final Judgement
23. ^ USPTO Trademark Application
24. ^ "AUDIO: Nissan boss' message to workers". Sunderland Echo.
http://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/Nissan-boss-39We-will-come.4860066.jp. Retrieved 2009-04-27.
 25. ^ "Nissan recalls 540,000 vehicles to fix brake pedals, petrol gauges". 3 March 2010.
http://gulfnews.com/business/general/nissan-recalls-540-000-vehicles-to-fix-brake-pedals-gas-gauges-
1.591330. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
26. ^ Smith, Aaron (October 28, 2010). "Nissan recalling 747,000 vehicles in U.S". CNN.
http://money.cnn.com/2010/10/28/autos/nissan_recall/index.htm?hpt=T2.
27. ^ Vlasic, Bill (May 13, 2008). "Nissan Plans Electric Car in U.S. by '10". The New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/13/business/13auto.html?
_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1210997590-
LUW7IgiiqGvDBB1BTBiESg. Retrieved May 20, 2010.
28. ^ Nissan bets on electric cars, not biofuels | Tech news blog - CNET News.com
29. ^ "Nissan to build electric vehicles at Oppama Plant". Nissan. 2009-05-12. http://www.nissan-
global.com/EN/NEWS/2009/_STORY/090512-02-e.html.
30. ^ http://www.autonews.com/article/20090304/ANE02/903039915/1164
31. ^ "Report: Nissan On Track with Nickel Manganese Cobalt Li-ion Cell for Deployment in 2015".
Green Car Congress. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2009/11/nissan-nmc-20091129.html. Retrieved
2009-12-04.
32. ^ New Statesman - Nissan to build compact electric car in UK
33. ^ "Nissan Facilities Overseas". http://www.nissan-
global.com/EN/COMPANY/PROFILE/EN_ESTABLISHMENT/index.html. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
34. ^ NISSAN SHATAI : Company History(1990-2009). Retrieved 16 April 2010.

• Cusumano, Michael A. (1985). The Japanese Automobile Industry. Harvard University

Press. ISBN 0-674-47255-1.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nissan

• Nissan Global website

• Nissan India website
• Nissan USA website
• Nissan Commercial Vehicles - North America
• Nissan All-Electric Car - Nissan Leaf
• Nissan/Infiniti News Room - Includes Detailed Model, Recall, and Bulletin Information

[show]v · d · eNissan Motor Company

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VH • VK • Y • VEJ30 •
V8
VRH35

V12GRX-3 • UD12 • VRT35

[show]v · d · e Nissan road car timeline, United States and Canadian markets, 1980s–present

[show]v · d · e Nissan light truck timeline, North American market, 1980s–present

[show]v · d · e Nissan car timeline, European market, 1980s–present

 [show]v · d · eNissan sportscar racers (1966–Present)

[show]v · d · e Infiniti, a division of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., road car timeline, 1990–present

[show]v · d · eAutomobile industry in Japan

[show]v · d · eTOPIX 100 companies of Japan

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Motors"

Categories: Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange | Companies listed on the Pink
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