Last week, we got the chance to sit down and talk about all things Nissan with one of the guys who’s in the best position to answer our questions, the vice president of product planning, Larry Dominique. He talked about his ambitions in terms of sales, vehicles, changes and improvements as well as the challenges that automaker will face in the months and years to come.
Conforming to the Canadian market to boost sales
Nissan is looking to increase its Canadian market share by 5.8%. To do so, the automaker will create products suited to the needs and realities of Canadian consumers. Mr Dominique admitted that in the past, his team was convinced that the Canadian market was very similar to the American one, but that mentality has changed.
Consequently, in the future we can expect to see more and more Nissan vehicles with unique options not necessarily available south of the border.
Murano possibly built in North America
Currently, Nissan is studying a scenario where production of the Murano would be transferred to North America.
The NV 200 is coming, maybe bringing diesel with it
The NV 200, which New York chose to rejuvenate its taxi fleet, will soon be arriving in North America, sporting a few differences from the European version. It’s designed with increased comfort in mind and will be 200 mm longer.
Nissan hasn’t ruled out the possibility of a diesel engine for the NV 200 as well as the next-generation Titan (which should follow closely on the heels of the NV), but the automaker will wait for the NV to prove itself before making a final decision.
Mr Dominique also said that Nissan is hoping to add diesel and hybrid taxis to the New York fleet.
The Cube poses a huge marketing challenge
Now in its third generation, the Cube was a smashing success in Japan, which led Larry Dominique and his crew to invest massive sums of money to bring it to North America.
Nissan was hoping to attract a young, urban crowd, but that unfortunately didn’t happen, and we learned today that the typical Cube buyer is about 50 years old. The automaker evidently dropped the ball on that one.
Mr Dominique even said the design was a little too far out for Canadian and American consumers, which obviously didn’t help..
Fuel economy is the name of the game
The Americans are poised to adopt more stringent Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards forcing automakers to limit the average fuel economy ratings of their entire lineups. These changes will inevitably have an impact on the Canadian and Mexican markets.
Several sources believe the current standard of 35.5 mpg (6.62L/100 km) will become quite a bit stricter by 2025 and could fall somewhere in between 47 mpg (5L/100 km) and 62 mpg (3.79L/100 km).
Mr Dominique is already expecting to sell products burning between 55 (4.2L/100 km) and 62 mpg.
Luckily, these changes are happening at the right time, and Mr Dominique says that for the first time North American consumers are more concerned with fuel economy than power. Vehicle size will still remain the top priority for buyers, however.
Nissan’s third in command believes that to achieve these goals, the automaker’s products will have to become significantly lighter. The engines, transmissions and even windows will be redesigned to include lighter materials, and the latter might even need to be manufactured differently.
Increasingly popular technologies like start/stop systems will also be featured more often.
All these measures designed to overcome the limitations of the internal combustion engine will come at a price though, which Mr Dominique estimates at $1,000 to $2,000.
The effects of the tsunami still being felt, but not for long
Nissan is currently doing better than some of its Japanese rivals, in terms of vehicle production and even says it’s a few months ahead of Toyota in its comeback plan.
Nissan does admit, however, that the Japanese plants face supply issues daily, particularly when it comes to microchips.
To this day, the shortage still affects production of the higher end models and those featuring a navigation system. But despite all that, Mr Dominique expects things to go back to normal by September or October.
On a related note, the country’s faltering electricity supply and new rules aiming to avoid power outages have forced Nissan to change the shifts of its Japanese employees, who now have to work on weekends and take their two days off during the week.
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Conforming to the Canadian market to boost sales
Nissan is looking to increase its Canadian market share by 5.8%. To do so, the automaker will create products suited to the needs and realities of Canadian consumers. Mr Dominique admitted that in the past, his team was convinced that the Canadian market was very similar to the American one, but that mentality has changed.
Consequently, in the future we can expect to see more and more Nissan vehicles with unique options not necessarily available south of the border.
Murano possibly built in North America
Currently, Nissan is studying a scenario where production of the Murano would be transferred to North America.
The NV 200 is coming, maybe bringing diesel with it
The NV 200, which New York chose to rejuvenate its taxi fleet, will soon be arriving in North America, sporting a few differences from the European version. It’s designed with increased comfort in mind and will be 200 mm longer.
Nissan hasn’t ruled out the possibility of a diesel engine for the NV 200 as well as the next-generation Titan (which should follow closely on the heels of the NV), but the automaker will wait for the NV to prove itself before making a final decision.
Mr Dominique also said that Nissan is hoping to add diesel and hybrid taxis to the New York fleet.
The Cube poses a huge marketing challenge
Now in its third generation, the Cube was a smashing success in Japan, which led Larry Dominique and his crew to invest massive sums of money to bring it to North America.
Nissan was hoping to attract a young, urban crowd, but that unfortunately didn’t happen, and we learned today that the typical Cube buyer is about 50 years old. The automaker evidently dropped the ball on that one.
Mr Dominique even said the design was a little too far out for Canadian and American consumers, which obviously didn’t help..
 |
Fuel economy is the name of the game
The Americans are poised to adopt more stringent Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards forcing automakers to limit the average fuel economy ratings of their entire lineups. These changes will inevitably have an impact on the Canadian and Mexican markets.
Several sources believe the current standard of 35.5 mpg (6.62L/100 km) will become quite a bit stricter by 2025 and could fall somewhere in between 47 mpg (5L/100 km) and 62 mpg (3.79L/100 km).
Mr Dominique is already expecting to sell products burning between 55 (4.2L/100 km) and 62 mpg.
Luckily, these changes are happening at the right time, and Mr Dominique says that for the first time North American consumers are more concerned with fuel economy than power. Vehicle size will still remain the top priority for buyers, however.
Nissan’s third in command believes that to achieve these goals, the automaker’s products will have to become significantly lighter. The engines, transmissions and even windows will be redesigned to include lighter materials, and the latter might even need to be manufactured differently.
Increasingly popular technologies like start/stop systems will also be featured more often.
All these measures designed to overcome the limitations of the internal combustion engine will come at a price though, which Mr Dominique estimates at $1,000 to $2,000.
The effects of the tsunami still being felt, but not for long
Nissan is currently doing better than some of its Japanese rivals, in terms of vehicle production and even says it’s a few months ahead of Toyota in its comeback plan.
Nissan does admit, however, that the Japanese plants face supply issues daily, particularly when it comes to microchips.
To this day, the shortage still affects production of the higher end models and those featuring a navigation system. But despite all that, Mr Dominique expects things to go back to normal by September or October.
On a related note, the country’s faltering electricity supply and new rules aiming to avoid power outages have forced Nissan to change the shifts of its Japanese employees, who now have to work on weekends and take their two days off during the week.