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JUNE 16, 2000

We've updated our 2002 Infinti Q45 Preview pages with a new picture gallery and a slightly better looking navigation bar. If you haven't seen the 2002 Q45 Preview pages yet here's a good excuse to see them.
   

JUNE 14, 2000

Okay, so there weren't any Nissans in the movie but a reputable source writes that the some of the key talent behind the scenes in the Gone in 60 Seconds movie also played a part in Nissan's recent Pathfnder "Polo" commercial. 

He writes, "Gone in 60 Seconds stunt coordinator, Charles 'Chuck' Percini, Jr., was the stunt coordinator on the recent 'Polo' commercial. And let me tell you, 8 Pathfinders on a muddy field, trying to play Polo requires some heavy stunt coordination. Additionally, Gone in 60 Seconds Production Designer, Jeff Mann, was also the Production Designer for the 'Polo' spot. Jeff helped design all of the authentic- looking uniforms, number badging, mallets and goals."

He adds, "The Director of 'Polo' was Samuel Bayer, who's directed several famous Nissan spots, including all of the Xterra stuff. Bayer also directed the great spot in which the 4th generation Maxima chases a cargo plane, catches up to it, and rolls aboard. (This was a real stunt -- filmed live.)"
   

JUNE 11, 2000

An interesting Wall Street Journal article examining Nissan's progress emerged last Thursday. The WSJ pointed out the fact that during a prime-time appearance on Japanese television, Nissan COO, Carlos Ghosn bemoaned Nissan Japan's current bland models and said the company must start making "attractive cars" again by fusing Nissan's engineering expertise with the styling of French partner Renault. 

The article continues on to mention Shiro Nakamura, Nissan's new global design chief and points out his some of his design experience from graduating from Art Center in Pasadena, California and a stint at Isuzu as the man behind the Vehicross design. According to the article, Nakamura's favorite cars include the Porsche 911, 1965 Ford Mustang, Toyota S800 and of course the Z car. Nakamura said, "I want to break through Japanese design...This is a very rare chance to break the Japanese culture of consensus, consensus, consensus."

Product development head, Patrick Pelata added, "Nissan had nice ideas, but didn't put them on the market...It's a pity." The article than mentions that the new Primera will be the first car dosed with the strongest amount of Renault's European influence and mimic cues in the Audi TT and VW Passat. The article then mentions that the new 2002 Altima will be a totally new vehicle and the Z car is due in Summer of 2002. All in all a slew of 22 new models will be introduced in the next three years -- four in the upcoming year ending next March, five more in the year after and a barrage of 13 in the year ending March 2003. Ten of the 23 vehicles are slated for the US market which is currently Nissan's best performing market.

The article then moves onto the popular subject of globalization. According to the article, some Nissan executives have resisted efforts to share platforms with Renault but Pelata argues that there is nothing wrong with it as long as the car is "given a basic level of performance and reliability." He instead points his finger to parts-bin sharing of interior components such as door handles and steering wheels as the factor consumers should be worried about. Some of Nissan's luxury models share interior parts from economy line models.

The article ends with Nakamura's seemingly daunting task to spice up Nissan Japan's current bland design image. Part of his solution is to make up to 10 percent of the global design workforce to be non-Japanese. He said, "A lot of times it takes an outsider to rediscover the great styling tradition you're holding in the midst of you."
   

JUNE 11, 2000

Yesterday's Casino Magic 500 IRL race was rained out and rescheduled for today. Even though Infiniti drivers had starting positions in second (Robbie Buhl) and fifth (Eddie Cheever Jr.), they placed lower than expected. Although he had a good starting position, it was not his day as Buhl finished the race in eighteenth place.
  

JUNE 10, 2000

Our Japanese sources handed us some info a few days back. The most interesting of which is concerns the next generation GT-R. They predict that the "Skyline" moniker will be separated from the GT-R. The same goes for platforms with the GT-R jumping to the new RWD platform showcased on the XVL concept sedan. 

Our source believes that the power for the R35 GT-R will come from a re-tuned ZH45DE, which is the new modular V-8 for the new 2002 Infiniti Q45. Some GT-R purists would consider this blasphemy as the GT-R was meant to be sportscar and not an Aston-Martin clone. As with other new products born under Nissan's revival plan, an emphasis will be placed on style. 

As to new Primera. The Primera will deviate radically from it's current boxy shell. It's all curves here. The focal point is the car's new derriere. To us, it looks kind of like a round Sentra behind, all it needs is a crease in the middle. Butt, errr...but it seems to fit the design of the car well. The new model is due February 2001. The big question to all of us in America is will we get it as a G20 here? 

Nissan will also have new Mini-ute currently codenamed the "ZR." Designed to be a direct competitor to the CRV and RAV-4, this one will most likely be heading to Europe first and the states in 2002. Expect a CR-V like profile but with more bulges and larger fender wells. One interesting interior feature, that may be shared with the new Primera, is that the instrument cluster is positioned in the center of the console (a la Toyota Echo/Yaris). Some of us are screaming bloody murder at the thought of it. Hopefully if Nissan decides to bring it here, they can make it better than Toyota's design. 
  

JUNE 10, 2000

The July issue of Road & Track magazine is stuffed full of Nissan stuff for the avid/rabid enthusiast. First up is a section on the archrivals "Infiniti Vs Lexus." It talks briefly about the original Q45 and LS400 cars. That leads the way to a small write-up on the new Q45 and LS430. So far, no bad comments on the exterior or interior. Next up is a tiny blurb about the XVL in which they speculate about the new high capacity extroid CVT being brought to the US. 

Perhaps the most intriguing article is an interview with Nissan's executive vice president, Patrick Pelata. They of course, have to ask about the new Z car. Pelata said about the Z, "Our intent has always been to make an affordable-yet-exciting sports car, and make it modern." 

R&T seems seems fixated with the Skyline GT-R, with most questions involving "Godzilla." When asked if there was room for both the Z and GT-R, Pelata's reply was this, "Yes, we think so." So, will a left-hand drive GT-R ever be made? "Well, lets just say that I discussed the situation with many of our engineers last fall, and I think we have a solution." (According to our sources - the solution is the new R35 GT-R and Z will be based off the same XVL platform!) 

He also seems to confirm that the Z will have a VQ engine in it when he declined comment. And last, but not least R&T does a quick review of the S15 Silvia Spec-R. R&T again suggests using this platform for the new Z and if  feasible bringing the S15 as a stablemate to the Z here. We won't argue that point.
  

JUNE 9, 2000

FreshAlloy.com isn't immune to the usual dose of pop-culture we're all assaulted with. So we present to you our interview with one of the executive producers (Denise Halicky) of Gone in 60 Seconds remake, which is coincidentally opening today! If you've seen the original, the interview will give you some insight into it as well as some tidbits from the new remake.
 

JUNE 8, 2000

From Japanese sources we're learning some tidbits about the new Primera currently in R&D. The new Primera has been touted as one of the first cars with substantial Renault influence. The US version of the Primera, the Infiniti G20 has a questionable future ahead and we're not sure if the new Primera chassis will make it to the states. We'll have some more info and pics later this week.
 

JUNE 8, 2000

We’re learning more on what will happen to the Quest after the Nissan/Ford joint venture ends prematurely in 2002. Through different sources, we understand that Nissan will replace the Quest in the 2003 model year with a minivan co-designed with Renault. It won’t be a re-badged version of a current Renault model. This new design may also be sold as a Renault in Europe. According to Nissan spokesman Scott Vazin, Nissan will "be coming back into the market in a fiercely competitive segment, we will take the necessary steps to meet or exceed expectations."

Our two cents; If horsepower is part of the expectation, a new engine will be a top priority. One the most criticized area of the current Quest remains it's less than modern engine with less horsepower, torque, and smoothness than it's two primary Japanese competitors; the Toyota Sienna and Honda Odyssey. The Odyssey is the industry target benchmark to shoot for. Toyota's Sienna because of it's smaller size (and some weird ergonomic flaws to us) hasn't done as well. 

We're predicating in order for Nissan to compete with the Odyssey's torquey engine, Nissan will opt to use the VQ35DE to match displacement with the 3.5L V-6 in the Honda. Some sources tell us not to rule use of a 3.0L VQ engine out. As to size, we see the Quest increasing in size but not substantially.
  

JUNE 6, 2000

Last week we noted Nissan's entry into South America with the assistance of Renault. We've learned that while Renault's factories there are modified for Nissan use, Nissan will source 2001 Frontiers and Xterra from the Smyrna, Tennessee plant. Workers there are already working overtime meeting strong US demand for the Xterra and four door Frontier truck. Manufacturing sources state they are not sure as to how increased output will affect the plant or American allocation. In 2002, Nissan will shift Frontier production to Renault's new Ayrton Senna plant in the city of Curitiba, south of Sao Paulo, Brazil. A new engine choice will be locally sourced 2.8L turbo diesel engine.
 

JUNE 6, 2000

Two Nissan web site related bits. Many of you have already noticed that Nissan's corporate site (nissan-na.com) is no longer there - now it simply redirects to the consumer product site (nissan-usa.com). We did hear a couple of months back that Nissan is planning to introduce a new corporate site, so we'll keep an eye out. 

Infiniti.com now has to a new Indy Racing section - which in our humble opinion a substantially better effort than their previous coverage of the series. Hopefully this bodes a redesign for the entire site.
 

JUNE 5, 2000

Nissan and Ford told reporters on Monday that they will end their joint-venture to produce the Quest/Mercury Villager minivans earlier than planned. This confirms long standing speculations that Nissan has new plans for it’s Quest. The two firms will end production at the end of a short 2002 model year. "The agreement will end at the end of the 2002 model year," Nissan spokesman Fred Standish stated. "It was originally (scheduled) to go to the 2004 model year." Nissan will then replace it with a new minivan, but Standish wouldn’t state where it will be built. Nissan has proposed a mild re-skin of the vans in the 2001 model year and end production after a short run in the 2002 model year.

Sales of the Villager/Quest have been slowly declining the past few years after hitting a high of 129,000 units in 1995. Sales through May of this year - Nissan sold 17,012 units compared with 19,110 in the same period last year.

Our two cents? Sounds like Nissan is getting ready to debut a new Minivan they don't want to share with Ford. 
  

JUNE 2, 2000

As expected, auto sales in the U.S. dipped 2.2 percent with such notables as DaimlerChrysler down 17.8 percent and GM dropping 5.8 percent. Nissan was one of the exceptions to the rule last month with total sales (including Infiniti) up 11.5 percent at 67,701 units.

Nissan division was up 10 percent thanks in part to the white-hot Xterra, which had it’s best month ever with 9,000 copies sold. The Sentra, fresh off of it’s debut earlier this year, had sales of 7,417. That’s up 18 percent versus last year. Thanks to an injection of VQ grade steroids, the Pathfinder was up 7.5 percent to 6,136. The Frontier continues with it’s forward momentum on the heels of the revised 2001 Frontier with sales of 9,742 up 24 percent versus last year. The Quest 
minivan was up a surprising 29.5 percent and Altima nudged slightly up 2 percent. We're not sure, but the Maxima sales are slightly down versus last year with Nissan (1999: 12,321 and 2000: 10,606) However compared to last month, Maxima’s sales were up 4 percent with 10,606 units.

Infiniti jumped 30 percent versus last year with sales of 6,952 units. The I30 continues it’s rise with sales of 3,320; up 60 percent. That makes it the best May on record for the I30. The QX4 received the same VQ juice as the Pathfinder and that made for 48 percent increase at 2,092. As for the rest of the line-up, the G20 was up 11 percent versus last month and the Q45 sold 344 units.
    

MAY 31, 2000

We're proud to publish our second interview with Jerry Hirshberg. As usual you'll be surprised by his candor and views on a wide range of subjects. Read it here.
    

MAY 30, 2000

As promised, we're bringing you more on Nissan and Renault's plans in South America. As expected, they are going to make a run for the Mercosur market (a trade zone similar to NAFTA which includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay). Thanks to Renault's strength in the region, Nissan plans to sell a fair amount - 150,000 cars annually by 2010. The volume will come from five models including the US derived Frontier and Xterra. Three other models which are in development, will most likely be passenger cars and maybe another SUV based on the full or mid size vehicles in the works.

But this expansion won't come cheap. NML will invest $90 million up front and $300 Million by 2005. Nissan and Renault (as in Europe) will share the back office structure and dealers. Nissan will also share up to 90 percent of it's suppliers with Renault thus being able to leverage better deals. Combined, they expect to rack up an impressive 15 percent market share by 2010 with Nissan forecasting to hold a 4 percent share in a total market predicted to sell 3 million vehicles per year by 2010.

The expansion is expected to produce 300 direct jobs, at a new plant that will produce the Renault Master and Nissan Frontier, and 3000 jobs indirectly via new dealerships and management. 
    

MAY 28, 2000

After several hours of delay - the 84th Indianapolis 500 went underway under cloudy skies. In the end, IRL rookie, CART cross-over, and prodigal driver Juan Montoya took the victory circle with 167 laps led out of 200 laps. Perhaps in a testament to the new found Infiniti Indy engine, both Eddie Cheever and Steve Knapp completed the race in fifth and nineteenth place respectively. Although Cheever did not win the race, his fifth place accomplishment was much sweeter than last year's Indy 500 race where problems with the Infiniti Indy engine caused him to pull-out of the race. 

Cheever said at the end of the race, "I beat the hell out of it (the Infiniti engine), and it held its head high." As to the race, "We lost positions on the last pit stop. I have to wait 365 days 'til the next Indy 500. It was not a flawless race."  About slowing past halfway point, "I got a bunch of neutrals (shifts). I put it into sixth, and it took off. It got better. I got my fastest on the last lap. Now we'll pick up the pieces and go to Texas."

Knapp added his two cents, "I felt good the whole race. When I got out of the car … I'm pretty sore now. I think our overall package was too much downforce. We went in knowing that but hoped the race would come to us. The (Infiniti) motor was flawless. It never missed a beat." 

For full Indy 500 results click here.
    

MAY 24, 2000

Reader Mike Jez notes that this Memorial Day weekend is the national SE-R convention in Dallas, Texas (presented by SERCA and SE-R.net). A variety of SR20DE powered vehicles, owners, and vendors will be converging on this hot spot of Nissan activity.  Click here for more info...
   

MAY 24, 2000

Auto production in Japan was up for the month of April for the big five firms. And Nissan, for the most part, was up as well. Domestic production was up 23.2 percent to 106,669 units. This is the first increase for Nissan in the past 17 months thanks to the likes of the Serena and Wingroad working their magic in Japan and Xterra, Maxima, and I30 for North America. Nissan's overseas production was 21.5 percent to 197,533 marking the 9th straight year-on-year increase. Exports were up 38.3 percent to 59,124 for the first year-on-year increase in 13 months thanks mainly to the North American market.

There is talk of boosting production in North America to take advantage of the up-swing. Carlos Ghosn said, "It's obvious we will build more cars in North America for that market." He added, "To meet our plans, we will have to boost our capacity." He cautioned that did not mean building new factories hence "getting ahead" of the situation.

Nissan expects up to 14 percent increase in the number of North America for this fiscal year to one million from 874,000 the previous year, even though it expects it's overall market share to fall 4 percent. Ghosn remarked about North America, "We are confident the evolution of our sales will be positive...We have much more showroom traffic in Nissan and Infiniti dealerships this year than in the past."

Not everything was rosy however, as Nissan's Japanese domestic sales dipped 7.4 percent to 45,798 continuing the 8th consecutive year-on-year decline.
   

MAY 24, 2000

We have a little more on the upcoming Indy 500. We reported a few days ago that Eddie Cheever Jr. qualified for an inside spot in the fourth row. We believed that Cheever would be the only one to represent Infiniti this weekend, but driver Steve Knapp made a last-hour run to qualify on Sunday and did so in dramatic fashion. Knapp signed a deal with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing to use Robbie Buhl's #24t back-up car [hence the "t"]. Knapp got out to qualify with only 30 minutes left and six or seven cars waiting after him. He averaged 220.290 mph to earn him the 27th spot in a field of 33. "I've got Infiniti power and man we needed some wheelie bars on the back of that thing, " explained Knapp. "It has got a lot of power. It made my life easy. It's a rush I can't describe." 

Interestingly, Knapp hasn't driven in an Indy car since an accident on the racetrack last year. Team Co-owner Dennis Reinbold, who owns two Infiniti dealerships said, "We are excited to have that car in the race. We know that the Infiniti motor is going to give us the opportunity to have the horsepower to get all the way up to the front. We feel real good about our chances on Sunday."

Also, Excite will have exclusive behind-the-scenes coverage of Team Cheever and their #51 Excite@Home Dallara/
Firestone/Infiniti race car including a live chat with Eddie Cheever Jr. on Thursday the 25th from 6 to 7pm PST.
   

MAY 20, 2000

On the newsstands this month - June's Open Road (Road & Track's specialty SUV/truck) magazine has a comparison of the new 2001 Pathfinder SE against its mortal enemy - the Toyota 4Runner (Limited trim) and the ubiquitous Ford Explorer (Eddie Bauer trim).  

The editors liked the "gobs of power," car-like ride, and it's low price point compared to the other two. They frumped on the the part time four wheel drive (to be fixed with the all wheel drive All-Mode from the QX4 coming later this year), styling cues, and small tires. What was surprising was that the Pathfinder wasn't quite as fast on the test track as the Explorer (205 bhp 4.0L SOHC V-6). The Explorer raced 0-60 in 8.25 seconds while the Pathfinder took .2 seconds more - still a remarkable improvement over last year's SOHC 3.3. Perhaps the Explorer was aided by it's new 5 speed automatic transmission? The 4Runner (once with a power advantage over the Pathfinder) took 9.6 seconds to reach 0-60. On the skidpad, slalom, and braking the Pathfinder was tops though. The main editor seemed to have a preference for the 4Runner while the two "second opinion" writers chose the new Pathfinder. Wrote one writer, "For my hard earned $34,000 I'll gladly take the Pathfinder." The other writer added because of the new 240 bhp engine..."the new Pathfinder has the beans to dish out the best from it's excellent chassis. Pathfinder: Was once lost but now is found."

Also in this month's newsstand we have the June issue of Road & Track which has a preview test of the new 2000 Sentra which is an almost glowing review of the car. Also featured are an HKS 180SX drag car and an Infinti IRL race car in a quarter mile shootout. Also Sports Compact Car has another Sentra review, a primer on the new SR20DE engine, and another installment of a 300ZX tuning in the area of chassis stiffening and suspension work. We'll have some quotes from both R&T and SCC regarding the new Sentra tomorrow.
  

MAY 20, 2000

At a press conference outlining earnings results for the previous fiscal year ending March 2000, Carlos Ghosn said, "We know Nissan had a credibility gap. The most important things are performance and transparency. Our Nissan 'revival' plan is on track. We don't want to have a fire sale.'' He added, "Development costs will fall by 30 percent over the next three years, while capital expenditure will rise to 5 percent of sales in fiscal 2000...Our suppliers have committed. We are able to meet an 8 percent reduction in parts costs and a 20 percent reduction over the next three years through March 2002. The number of suppliers has come down by 20 percent. We want credible answers from the suppliers. We want to have a long-term relationship with everyone...The revival plan is having a deeper and faster impact, and helps growth in cost reduction.''

Nissan sold 2.42 million vehicles worldwide last year, down from 2.58 million units in 1998. Japanese market sales dropped 13.2 percent to 758,000 vehicles and 8.9 percent to 501,000 in Europe. But sales rose 11.1 percent in the U.S. and Canada to 730,000 units. Ghosn highlighted North American efforts which helped fourth quarter results, "In North America, we had persistent growth, helped by the Xterra pickup and Maxima sedan, and also the weaker yen.'' 

As to Nissan's slowly eroding Japanese market sales, "It's an uphill battle. We aren't dreaming. We'll have to fight to maintain market share in fiscal 2000 and fiscal 2001, with profitability the number one priority.'' He added, "It's really difficult to say what (Japanese) market share we will have in the next two years. We will have four new products in Japan in the year ending March 2001 and we shall see a stabilization of market share on average.'' 

As to what the upcoming year's results could be, Ghosn said, "In the year to March 2001, we will post at least 20 billion yen in extraordinary profits from three items, which are Fuji Heavy (Subaru) stakes and two real estate sales.''

In perhaps a strong encouragement for Nissan North America Ghosn declared, "the North America operation is by far the strongest division...There are practically no incentives for models like Xterra in North America.''
 

MAY 19, 2000

We received word today from two different sources that the infamous Xterra commercial  with the Cinderella theme is not an official Nissan or TBWA/Chiat/Day product. We'll be bringing you more info as we hear it.
 

MAY 19, 2000

A couple of business items for today. First on the table is Nissan's financial report for the last fiscal year which had wider losses than initially expected but predicted by some analysts. Nissan reported a group net loss of 684.4 billion yen ($6.31 billion) compared to 1998's loss of 27.7 billion yen.  However, Nissan posted an operating profit of 82.6 billion yen ($757.8 million), substantially higher than analyst forecasts of 30 to 40 billion yen. We'll have more details and market reaction to the report tomorrow.

In other news, Reuters reported on Thursday that Nissan is in talks with the Brazilian state of Parana to build a new car producing plant there. As source close to the negotiations stated that the government and Renault-Nissan will sign a "protocol of intentions" on May 30th. Reports state that the official announcement could come during a long-scheduled press conference on May 29th. Brazilian media sources are also reporting that the plant could cost upwards of $150 million and create 200 jobs. The plant is speculated to be built near a Renault plant in the Brazilian city of Sao Jose dos Pinhais. We’ll bring you more when, and if the plans are announced.
 

MAY 18, 2000

Bloomberg is reporting that Nissan Motor Limited (NML) will be reporting the largest loss in Japanese automotive history. The news cost Nissan stock to loose some 7.1 percent of it's value during morning trading. Analysts are estimating a loss of 642 billion yen ($5.8 billion USD) in the year to March, a 23-fold increase on the loss of the previous year. However most analysts are predicting a brighter outlook regardless of the current losses due to newly implemented core business consolidation and revitalized sales in the United States. 
 

MAY 18, 2000

We're happy to note that our community forums are available again. If you haven't had a chance to visit, read, and participate; we encourage you to pay a visit. We think you'll enjoy hearing your fellow enthusiasts.
 

MAY 16, 2000

Many of you have noticed that our community forums are currently not available. Our service provider has been moving the server and we did not anticipate the length it would take. We apologize for any inconvenience and believe everything will be restored by tomorrow morning. Thank you for your patience.
 

MAY 16, 2000

Yesterday we had reported on the merger of Nissan and Renault's sales operations in Europe. Today it was reported by Reuters that 55 percent of Nissan Europe's 5,600 strong sales force will be eliminated with some moving over to Renault. Renault will actually be increasing their staffing by 8 percent. Overall the combined new entity will be 9% smaller than before.
 

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