JULY
15, 2000 Reuters is reporting that Nissan has signed an agreement
with GM affiliate Delphi to let it look get a better picture of
Calsonic's current finances as a part of due diligence investigation.
"It is not a done deal," Carlos Ghosn said. According to sources,
Delphi is one of the strongest suitors to acquire Calsonic; which
manufactures many of Nissan's air conditioning systems, mufflers,
and radiators. Those who've played Gran Turismo will recognize
Calsonic's involvement in Japanese GT car racing campaigns with
Skyline GT-Rs.
A few months back, GM purchased all of Nissan's holdings of Subaru
parent, Fuji Heavy. GM in addition has had a long relationship with
Toyota and more recently signed an engine technology agreement with
Toyota and Nissan's rival, Honda.
Nissan is also reported to have plans to join the mini-car market
with engine sizes under 660cc. According to some analysts, the mini-car
market in Japan accounts for 33 percent of total sales. "We cannot
stay outside this market," said Ghosn. These cars enjoy government
subsidized tax breaks making them popular with buyers have low profit
margins for manufacturers which is even more problematic for Nissan
at this stage. Ghosn said there was no firm decision when to make
the vehicle and how to profit from them.
JULY
11, 2000
We've gotten positive feedback on our Z car sketch
(July 9th). Here's what three insiders have to say...
"The rear window is accurate; tail lights are a similar shape,
but the exhaust, etc. is completely different. What will make people
say 'wow!' about this car will be the front."
"The sketch is pretty good - but the rear deck is a bit higher
than you've drawn. Try looking at the TT to get an idea (a little
more bulbous rear)."
"An excellent extrapolation from the little bit that Nissan
showed. I'm sure others are trying to look into the that direction
as well. Sorry, can't comment on the differences."
JULY
11, 2000 Bloomberg reports that NML is in talks to sell as many as
20 of its biggest affiliates to cut costs and raise cash.
Yesterday Nissan agreed to sell its stake in Ikeda Bussan, Japan's
biggest car seat maker. Johnson Controls, headquartered in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, is purchasing 100 percent of the outstanding shares for
$185 million USD. Johnson Controls already is a seat supplier to
Nissan in Asia, Europe, and North America. The company already operates
a joint venture with Ikeda Bussan in the UK to supply seats to Nissan.
Also expected on the chopping block are Tennex (oil filters and
air cleaners) and Calsonic (air conditioning systems, mufflers,
and radiators). Calsonic's most well known suitor is Delphi (a GM
affiliate), considered the world's largest automotive parts maker.
In April, Nissan sold its 20 percent stock in Ichikoh, a maker of
headlamps and taillights, to Valeo SA, Europe's second- largest
car parts maker.
JULY
9, 2000
We coaxed FreshAlloy.com's resident conceptual artist, Robert Ledesma,
into drawing a new sketch on the 2003 Z car based on the sketch
Nissan released (see July 1st). The one on top is his take on the
sketch and to make it easier for everyone, the picture below is
what Nissan released earlier.
JULY
9, 2000
The August issue of Car and Driver has a comparison between
the sporty Dodge Neon R/T versus the new 2000 Sentra in SE and 5
speed trim. The Sentra SE handily won the comparo due to it's smoother
drive-train, higher refinement levels and better build quality.
The editors did seem to indicate the Neon was a better handler in
instrumented testing. C/D lavished superlatives usually reserved
for Honda and Toyota and praised the new Sentra as a "Mini-Maxima."
So far so good, as the Sentra has won a comparo in Edmunds
and came up in second place in the previous month's C/D when
a GXE fought off the Focus, Civic, and Prizm/Corolla.
Also in the issue is a preview of the new Acura MDX...which to us,
looks like a Lexus RX300 from the nose (sans the grille) on to the
side profile! Acura also based the MDX on a front wheel drive platform
(the Odyssey) as did Lexus did with the Camry.
The new MDX should be a worth competitor to the 2001 Infiniti QX4.
There are many similarities and also differences between the three
Japanese SUVs. We eagerly await for R&T or C/D
to do a comparison between the Japanese trio and perhaps the Mercedes
ML320 and the new BMW X5 in 3.0L six cylinder trim.
JULY
5, 2000
Recognition and praise for Carlos Ghosn' leadership abilities came
today from industry publication, Automotive News. The trade
magazine proclaimed Ghosn as the "Industry Leader of the Year"
amongst 20 other automotive executives (including Jac Nasser, Vic
Doolan, and Roger Penske). Automotive News states, "Ghosn’s
full-fledged assault on Nissan’s problems made it easier for other
Japanese companies -- in the auto industry and beyond -- to tackle
their problems directly. His bold moves also made picking this year’s
Industry Leader of the Year easy. Automotive News reporters and
editors chose Ghosn by a runaway margin."
JULY
5, 2000
Nissan’s June sales figures were released today to the the curious
minds of FreshAlloy.com editors. As expected, the trend upwards
continues for Nissan and Infiniti as new models like the Xterra,
Sentra, I30, and QX4 fly out of the showrooms.
Sales for the Nissan division were up 13.3 percent for the month
of June. The Xterra continued its blazing pace selling 8,400 copies,
up 54 percent versus last year. Surprisingly, sales of Nissan’s
soon-to-be defunct Quest minivan were up 47 percent to 5,565. The
newly redesigned Sentra sedan’s sales were predictably up, an increase
of 60 percent with 8,227 copies sold. The Frontier truck and Pathfinder
SUV round out the positive trend with 9,344 units (up 26 percent),
and 5,417 units (up 25 percent) respectively. The Altima and Maxima
were down versus June of ’99.
Infiniti joined Nissan division's upward trend, with sales jumping
16 percent in June. I30s screamed out of Infiniti’s dealerships
for the financially privileged selling 3,400 units, up 56 percent
from June of last year. The VQ enhanced QX4 followed clocking in
with 2,224 copies sold, up 56 percent as well. The G20 was up slightly
with 1,331 units sold. And finally, 410 Q45s wrapped up the month.
Overall sales of Nissan North America (Infiniti and Nissan) were
up 15.5 percent with 67,086 cars, trucks, and minivans sold in June.
Also, NNA sales for the first six months of 2000 were up 21.2 percent
with 377,215 units sold.
JULY
5, 2000
Speaking of the Micra - one of FreshAlloy.com's contributors spotted
Nissan's mini-car Micra being tested around Southern California.
He writes...
"I wasn't even aware of this vehicle until I saw it this last
week. I was on my way to the office and I spotted a vehicle I had
never seen before. It was about the size of a Ford Festiva, similar
style, too. It was a green hatch. The rear had the Micra name on
it with a GX designation. As I drove closer I noticed a wheel device
that is commonly used to check fuel consumption and mileage (normally
done for EPA testing). Once I move even closer I saw and on-board
computer and a right-hand drive setup. This was obviously a test
car. What shocked me when I went to pass was the Nissan logo at
the front of the car. The front styling has the same grill seen
on the Primera and Almera while the lights looked more truck-ish
like the ones seen on the Pathfinder. Anyway, I went along my business,
worked all day and headed back to the freeway to go how. Guess what
I saw? Another Micra, this time in red with the same setup as before.
Nissan must be prepping this vehicle for some market, maybe not
even ours, but it's out there. Could this be the vehicle Nissan
needs and wants to come under the Sentra in price and target market?"
JULY
5, 2000
Rumors about the fate of Nissan’s Sunderland, UK plant have been
circulating around in the press during most of this year. But it
was an announcement that Nissan President, Carlos Ghosn, would is
scheduled to meet high ranking British officials have added gallons
of fuel to the fire. In an interview with Britain's Financial
Times, Ghosn said that Sunderland isn’t in risk of closing,
but rather a planned multi-million dollar expansion, and a chance
of losing production rights to Nissan’s next-generation Micra mini.
The motivating factor behind all this? Money or in this case the
Euro. The Sunderland plant produces most Micra cars for export into
other European countries and with the pound’s strong performance
versus the Euro will make it hard to make profit of the Micra. It
appears to some analysts that the UK is stalling to convert over
in using the European dollar. So Nissan may switch Micra production
to it’s Barcelona plant, or possibly even a Renault controlled plant.
If Sunderland does lose the Micra, it could cut production ( at
what is regarded as Europe’s most productive plant) in half. Jobs,
inevitably would be lost, and that is something the British government
is hoping to prevent. Media reports confirm this with word that
the U.K. is preparing a $151 million USD package for Nissan to secure
future development in Sunderland. This has sparked reverberations
from Toyota, indicating they need/want to be part of a financial
incentive deal. Honda has also indicated it's plans to source more
parts from the continental Europe for it's British factory.
FreshAlloy.com will keep a close eye on this situation as it develops
even further when Carlos Ghosn meets with Britain’s top brass, possibly
including Prime Minister Tony Blair. Stay tuned…..
JULY
2, 2000
The New York Times has a good article on Renault and it's
bid to be a bigger global player than it's current fourth rank status.
Of course much of the article concerns Nissan and it's role in the
Renault alliance with other companies such as Samsung (Korea), Dacia
(Romania), and Volvo (Sweden). Analysts point out that Nissan's
prosperity is the key to Renault's survival. "The future of
Renault is being played out in Tokyo," said one analyst in
the article.
JULY
1, 2000
Without a whole lot of attention, Nissan unveiled a left rear quarter
view sketch of the new 2003 Z car at the International Z car convention
in Las Vegas. FreshAlloy.com editors have seen sketches of the new
Z before- not in great detail. The released sketch is consistent
with our previous encounters. Very sharp angles, almost Teutonic
(reminiscent of Porsche), and dare we say it...Ford's "new
edge" design philosophy.
At the unveiling were Nissan notables such as Nissan's chief designer
Shiro Nakamura (third from left in photo) and father of the Z, Mr.
Katayama or simply known as "Mr. K" to many (fourth from
left in photo).
According to sources it was confirmed that a normally aspirated
version of the 3.5L VQ that will power the car and will be good
for 300 horsepower. Closely related to the VQ30DE (in the Maxima)
and a near twin to the VQ35DE (in the 2001 Pathfinder), this VQ
will feature variable valve timing on both the intake and exhaust
valves, more aggressive cams, and a host of new enhancements. What's
unknown is if the new Z will be offered with forced induction either
through a turbo or supercharger. Some enthusiasts are lamenting
the use of the VQ aluminum block thus preventing aggressive tuning
of the engine by increasing the displacement or bumping up the boost
if a forced induction version was indeed ever offered.
We have a new Z car preview article in the works with a new conceptual
sketch by Robert Ledesma. Stay tuned!
(Photos by Ryan Ehdaie)
JULY
1, 2000
Yesterday marked the end of an era as Jerry Hirshberg retired from
Nissan Design International as it's president. As we reported on
June 24th, he will continue to star in Nissan's TV commercials as
well as remain on the board of NDI. Our sources tell us that the
team at NDI threw him a a well organized going away party.
Something tells us that Hirshberg though officially retired
from Nissan, will still be a very vocal figure in the Nissan world.
JUNE
29, 2000
Nissan reported today that it would combine three of it's financial
service affiliates into one new company in an attempt to become
more competitive in the consumer auto finance industry. The new
company would combine Nissan Credit Corp. and two unspecified affiliates.
The announcement sent NML's shares up 3.44 percent on the day making
it the highest in 12 months.
Japanese media, including the business daily Nihon Kezai Shimbun,
are predicting that Nissan could pump a 30 billion yen in capital
to inject into the new company. A Nissan source suggested that amount
is somewhat exaggerated, but said the company would have a strong
financial base. The company will be headed by a familiar face to
Nissan North America. Former head of NNA, Minoru Nakamura, credited
with beginning NNA's turnaround, will head the new company. Masataka
Matsumura, previously the leader of Nissan's U.S. consumer finance
unit, will take seat as the Executive Vice President. Nissan will
rely on this company in the U.S. and Asia. Renault will support
Nissan in Europe and Latin American. Renault may use Nissan's financial
services in it's push into Asia. The new company will provide other
services than just auto financing, that could include credit cards
offered to Nissan customers.
Imagine the possibilities....a Nissan Platinum Z car credit card?
JUNE
29, 2000
In a bit of somber news, Mazda president Mark Fields announced a
plant to trim the U.S. dealer network to 550 and 600 over three
years, from the current 929, primarily from divesture of unprofitable
outlets.
"This includes actions such as adding stores, relocation of store
and may include some terminations, many of which have and will be
concluded on a mutually agreeable basis," said the company.
Unlike it's rivals (Nissan, Toyota, and Honda), Mazda has performed
poorly with sales up a modest 1.1 percent to 99,425 vehicles for
the year to end-May compared with an industry-wide figure of increase
7.6 percent. Mazda like Nissan is in the midst of a restructuring
program but not as visible or well known as the Nissan Revival Plan.
JUNE
27, 2000
In an ironic turn of events, Renault's commercial truck making arm,
Renault V.I., has set up a preferred partnership with Mitsubishi
rather than Nissan Diesel. Nissan Diesel is not entirely out of
the picture says Renault V.I. chairman, Patrick Faure. "Nissan
Diesel will not join the new group...We have limited cooperation
with them and it will continue."
The reasons? There are probably many but one obvious answer is Mitsubishi's
already established relationship with Volvo Trucks, which will combine
to form a new company with Renault V.I. Renault will receive 15
percent of the shares of the new company. Interestingly enough,
parent company Renault already has a 22.5 percent stake in Nissan
Diesel. Volvo Truck's relationship with Mitsubishi is currently
more of a vendor situation rather than a strategic alliance.
Call us paranoid, but we can only guess of reasons why Nissan Diesel
isn't part of the new alliance with Renault V.I. and Volvo Trucks.
Perhaps a power play upon the part of Renault to make sure NML knows
who's in charge? Or perhaps a decision made by Renault not to put
their eggs in one basket?
It's always possible that Nissan Diesel may eventually become part
of the new alliance maybe by next year.
JUNE
27, 2000
This month's Car UK (our favorite print magazine) has a couple
of articles of interest. First is a comparo between Carlos Ghosn
and Ford boss Jac Nasser. Car asks "Separated at Birth?"
Yes, you read correctly. What do these two rivals have so much in
common as much as what makes them unique? Remember Ghosn is "Le
Cost Killer" while the other is known ass "Jac-the-Knife."
Car also pits the R34 Skyline GT-R against the new Audi RS4
station wagon. What a station wagon? Well this is one special family
hauler....twin turbo V-6 (est. 380 bhp), Quattro AWD, 18 inch
wheels, and a top speed of 155 mph. We'll have highlights from those
two pieces later this week.
Walk, no run to your local Barnes and Noble or Borders to
pick up the July issue today!
JUNE
27, 2000
Even though Carlos Ghosn was easily approved as Nissan Motors Ltd.'s
President during last week's shareholder's meeting, they did not
escape so easily in other areas as some shareholders badgered Ghosn
and Chairman Yoshikazu Hanawa on the effects of the Nissan Revival
Plan throughout a longer than usual 4 hour meeting.
Some went as far to point out how some ex-Renault/now Nissan executives
didn't bow when they came into the meeting, and few went as far
as comparing the new management to the U.S. occupational forces
sent to Japan after World War II. "When the Nissan directors entered
the room, the Japanese bowed. The foreigners didn't…. If these kinds
of people are running Nissan, I will not drive Japanese cars...These
are occupation forces controlling this company," said a shareholder
identified only as Watanabe.
Watanabe further asked Ghosn, "Are you aware you’re called
the Destroyer?"
Ghosn demonstrated his human interaction skills and easily retorted,
"I have many nicknames. This is a new one. Some stick, and
some do not. For example, I am also called '7-11,' because I often
start work at 7 a.m. and end at 11 p.m. I don’t think "Destroyer"
will stick. It has no basis in reality. But you’re right. There
are many Japanese manners I do not know, but that is because I have
been working very hard and I don’t have much time outside Nissan.
Certainly with your help, I'll be more Japanese next time."
Ghosn and Hanawa continued to roll with the punches and used the
meeting as a platform to announce new details of the "revival plan,"
including Ghosn's statement that Nissan plans to introduce a "minimum"
of 7 products each year from 2003 to 2005. That's on top of the
22 products that should come out from now until 2002. Another hot
topic was payment of dividend to shareholders, to this Ghosn apologized,
"As soon as we return to profitability and regain a sufficient
level of distributable earnings to allow it, we will resume payment
of a dividend."
JUNE
24, 2000
You may have noticed that we've revised this news page for increased
functionality. In the upcoming week we'll be revising the pages
in the archives and other pages to fit the new format. Let
us know what you think of it.
JUNE
24, 2000
Due in part to Jerry Hirshberg's retirement on June 30th, Nissan
Design International has restructured it's board of directors. Hirshberg
in addition to still being involved with Nissan's TV commercials,
will remain on the board along with newly appointed President, Tom
Semple. Shiro Nakamura (Nissan's global design chief) will also
be a board member along with Patrick Paleta (Nissan's product planning
chief) and Norio Matsumura (Nissan's overseas operation chief),
and Lou Knierim (director of human resources/administration and
secretary/treasurer at NDI). Paleta will also become chairman of
the board in a move regarded by insiders to bring NDI under full
control of NML.
Within NDI's day to day, Semple will report to Nakamura (and we're
guessing indirectly to Paleta). Semple was previously NDI's director
of design and has worked on the Xterra, hard body truck, and J30
projects. Veteran designer Bruce Campbell will assume Semple's director
of design post. Campbell's involvement at NDI has included
the Gobi concept pick up, Pulsar NX, and Quest.
JUNE
24, 2000
During this week's shareholder meeting, Nissan Chairman Yoshikazu
Hanawa hinted that a new Nissan logo is in the works. He remarked
"I can’t tell you when or how it might be changed, but I believe
it is high time it was changed." Nissan is slated to debut a new
global marketing strategy next January - it's unknown whether or
not the new logo will be introduced at that time or possibly earlier?
Nissan's
current 3D logo first emerged in the United States in the mid
90s (along with the "Enjoy the Ride" campaign) and has
slowly migrated it's way to other Nissan operations around the world
- particularly in Europe.
JUNE
24, 2000
According to the AP, May was a good month for automobile
output in Japan - perhaps in another sign of economic recovery.
Nissan, Toyota, Honda, and Mitsubishi all reported higher domestic
sales and exports (in particular to the United States).
Nissan's output rose 9.7 percent rise in domestic output to 99,168
vehicles, thanks to growing exports and an increase in domestic
sales of its Serena minivans and Wingroad wagons. Toyota, Japan's
biggest automaker, said output rose 12.4 percent in May to 257,872
vehicles on rising domestic sales and exports to Europe, Asia and
North America. Honda reported a 15.7 percent jump to 91,881 vehicles
on strong domestic sales of its Odyssey minivan and Life mini- vehicle.
Mazda's was left out as output declined for the first time in five
months with a slight 1.4 percent reduction to 55,470 vehicles.
JUNE
20, 2000
Carlos Ghosn was officially approved as NML’s President at a shareholder’s
meeting in Tokyo. "I know many of you still harbor some doubts
about what we will do in fiscal year 2000,'' Ghosn told the shareholders.
"But I can say that you will not have to wait too long for
a clear indication of our performance.''
Some shareholders expressed concerns about additional job-cuts -
to which Ghosn responded, "NRP's (Nissan Revival Plan) objective
is not head-count cuts, but profitability." Ghosn reasserted
that Nissan’s profitability relies heavily on the health of the
American car market. It’s safe to predict that many Nissan execs
are praying for the U.S. economy to continue it's growth cycle.
Nissan's stock price has increased 51 percent since January but
in the past few weeks has gained very little momentum. Ghosn remarked,
"Even though our share price has seen a positive trend recently,
I would not focus too much on the short term...Once we deliver concrete
results, I believe the share price will better reflect our demonstrated
performance." Most analysts agree and predict the stock may
surge in four months when mid-term financial results are released.
Some analysts are not as optimistic - Noriyuki Matsushima, an analyst
at Nikko Salomon Smith Barney said, "we believe that business
conditions at Nissan have worsened since the Revival Plan was originally
announced (last October)." He cited various problems such as
the strong yen against the dollar and euro plus continued poor Japanese
market sales as being strong factors in his disfavor of the stock.
JUNE
19, 2000
Our Motorsports section has
a detailed recap of the Radisson 200 race for those interested in
Eddie Cheever's victory. Our favorite quote from Cheever? "I
got so tired of answering, 'When will Infiniti win a race?' The
next question is going to be; When will Infiniti win the championship?"
JUNE
18, 2000
The Radisson 200 has just finished and we have another victory to
report. Eddie Cheever has won the race after leading 39
laps of the race. Robbie Buhl's car suffered a blown engine early
in the race. A day of celebration and some heartbreak for Infiniti/Nissan
Motorsports. More on the victory later today.
JUNE
18, 2000
We're proud to announce our new Motorsports
section. Essentially we'll be covering Nissan related motorsports
news in detail there - on this page we'll continue covering it to
a lesser degree with major news and results. You may notice that
for now we're only featuring three series; Indy Racing League (obviously),
Le Mans, and One Lap of America. We hope to add other series such
as the BTCC, STCC, and JGTC in the future. If you're on top of any
of these, we'd like to hear from you if you are interested in being
an assistant editor. Email
us for consideration.
JUNE
18, 2000
LeMans victory! Well sort of, as an attentive FreshAlloy.com reader
points out that although Nissan did not officially compete in this
year's Le Mans, this year a private team, Multimatic Motorsports
using a Nissan engine (3000A V-6) and a Lola chassis won the LMP
675 category at the 24 hour of Le Mans. Multimatic is a Canadian
team and usually associated with Ford so their choice of a Nissan
engine comes as surprise to us.
JUNE
17, 2000
We've had a couple of letters from readers concerned about the availability
of the 2000 model year Sentra. Some indicate that they placed orders
a few weeks ago and still have not received shipment of their new
car or will have to wait for the 2001 model year car. We'll be researching
this - stay tuned.
JUNE
17, 2000
Nissan's Smyrna, Tennessee plant lost some ground and held some
in the 1999 Harbour Report released this week. The Harbour Report
is a survey and efficiency rating of all the North American auto
plants.
Smyrna lost it’s spot as the most efficient car-producing plant
in North America to Ford’s Atlanta plant which assembles Taurus
and Sables. Ford's Atlanta plant took 17.49 hours per vehicle to
assemble versus Nissan's Smyrna plant at 17.53 hours. According
to the report, the Smyrna plant has rebounded from low volume with
new products (Xterra and Frontier Crew Cab) that contributed to
a 2.6 percent labor productivity improvement.
Ford’s improvement wasn’t enough to knock Nissan off the top spot
for the overall most efficient automaker in North America.
Nissan takes an average of 18.7 hours to assemble cars and trucks
at Smyrna and other factories Mexico. Honda (20.26 hours per vehicle)
and Toyota (21.76 hours per vehicle) trailed behind Nissan.
"On the whole, the Japanese plants are far more efficient in
the United States," said the report. On a sour note, Nissan was
the only automaker to lose money on every car it makes, $17 on average.
Analysts suspect Nissan’s huge debt, incentives/rebates programs,
and higher payment for parts contribute to the loss per vehicle.
