Nissan 2006 Annual Report Download - page 10

Nissan Annual Report 2005
8
The targets outlined in the Nissan Value-Up plan for
sustainable growth would be far harder to achieve
without the close and continuing cooperation of our
Alliance partner, Renault. With our CEO Carlos
Ghosn now heading the executive committees of
both companies, the Alliance has become an even
greater source of global insights and solutions.
A distillation of best practices from two
companies is much more potent than what one alone
can produce. The Alliance board meets regularly to
develop the strategy and to share the perspectives
on major industry issues and opportunities.
Because its scope remains open and flexible, the
Alliance has generated a wide spectrum of projects
and initiatives. For example, one core benefit of the
Alliance is the capacity for in-depth benchmarking
which is not possible with a third party.
Nissan and Renault’s joint transparency policy
encourages such disclosures, giving us the
advantage of a dual angle on problems and their
potential solutions.
The Alliance presents opportunities in engineering
as well. We have collaborated on powertrain
development, for example, giving both Renault and
Nissan the chance to refine a fundamental
component of the carmaking craft. Across functions
and borders, our engineers are inspiring each other to
devise the vehicles of the future.
Further optimization of the Alliance in areas such
as distribution and shared production capacity lowers
cost and risk—factors that will help us expand faster
in the largely untapped General Overseas Markets
(GOM). Where one partner has a presence and the
other does not, the support and market knowledge is
there to be shared. For a totally new market or
segment, we discuss how to enter. Two recent
examples of Alliance cooperation are:
• Opening a joint parts warehouse in Hungary
that delivers thousands of spare parts to
Renault and Nissan dealer networks in Central
Europe. The Alliance partners invested €13
million in the facility, which uses a new IT
system Renault and Nissan developed together.
Handling parts at a single, centrally located site
should bring significant cost reductions and
generate synergies in supplies and distribution.
• Nissan initiating sales of the SM3 compact
sedan, produced by Renault Samsung Motors
(RSM) at its Busan plant in Korea, in various
world markets beginning in 2006. This marks
the first time Nissan has sourced vehicles for
export from Korea. RSM will produce up to
30,000 SM3s—a model originally based on a
Nissan product—every year.
To make the Alliance thrive, Nissan and Renault
concentrate solely on opportunities with the potential
to benefit both partners. One example is shared
sales financing services in various markets, including
Europe. If a project is not mutually advantageous, we
either find a way to balance the return or abandon
the venture.
In the end, the true worth of the Alliance springs
from its virtually limitless potential. We realize that we
have own strengths and goals, but that only
energizes us to discover where we can rely on each
other for support. We challenge each other, too, and
in doing so, move our businesses to a higher road.
RENAULT-NISSAN ALLIANCE
An Energized, Enlightened Alliance
Various Models from the B Platform
Clio Bluebird Sylphy