Nissan 2006 Annual Report Download - page 37

possibilities, such as light commercial vehicles, which
we haven’t exploited yet.
The Nissan brand and Infiniti brand each have
their own distinct positioning, but the common
denominator is edgy, dramatic design and
performance. Every Nissan and Infiniti product has its
own distinct advantages. For example, the Versa gets
excellent gas mileage but is one of the biggest cars
in its class, so you can actually carry your family in it
comfortably. What we bring out is always a little off
to the side in each segment, and that’s what makes a
product much more successful.
Since the turnaround, I believe we’ve
rediscovered the DNA of the Nissan brand. One of
the best examples is the new Altima that’s coming
out soon. The previous model set itself apart from
the pack, and we went on to sell a quarter of a million
of them. It’s the first Nissan model we’ve ever sold
so many of in the U.S. Recent moves by our
competitors have opened some space for us in the
sporty design arena of this segment, and we’re going
grow the space even bigger.
Looking a little farther ahead, although the GT-R
won’t be a major volume segment when it arrives in
the U.S. in 2008, it will create a lot of buzz in the
marketplace. We got a glimpse of that recently when
we gave our U.S. dealers a surprise look at the car.
We’d brought all five of the new vehicles for fiscal
2006 out one by one and done our marketing spiel
to get the dealers pumped up. As they were walking
out through the stage to the place where the drinks
and food were laid out, there was the GT-R, up on a
riser. There was a real buzz in the room.
The GT-R has enormous appeal for a finite
audience, but what it will do for the brand is get lots
of people talking about Nissan. The GT-R is already
recognized globally as a tremendous performance
car. And it’s known as a Nissan, linked to the Z. It’s
going to be a wonderful “halo” car for us. It gives
us an opportunity to extend the buzz surrounding
the Z, which is a brand icon for us in the States.
We’ll be able to take that up a level, solidifying the
brand’s performance aspect. We’re looking for
it to boost showroom traffic, too, and expect to see
Z sales affected positively when people visit
the dealerships.
When we were doing the Quest and Versa ride-
and-drive in Nashville there was one quote in the
speech that really struck me. The observation was
that many companies making the kinds of changes
we are such as moving across the country—are
doing so during times of crisis, but we’re making
them in a time of strength. The company has
graduated. Before, we were in crisis, and then in the
comeback mode. Now we’re stable and profitable. It
demonstrates that we’re not only competitive and
strong today but positioning ourselves to have
sustained growth in the U.S. in the future.
Nissan Annual Report 2005 35
GROWTH MOMENTUM
NNA Headquarters Concept
(mid-2008 occupancy)
Sentra Versa