Nissan 2008 Annual Report Download - page 5

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3
Nissan Annual Report 2008
In fiscal 2007 Nissan delivered solid results during
one of the most challenging years in recent memory.
Our performance reflected the capabilities of people
throughout our company. We have had many
opportunities to stretch and learn while competing on
a rapidly changing world stage.
As we look ahead, we expect our capabilities to
continue to be tested.
The automotive market is in a period of
significant recession in nearly every developed
market, and demand is stabilizing in emerging
markets. Uncertainty is echoed in the global financial
system, which has been disturbed by institutional
collapses, decreased credit availability and massive
bank rescue measures. Many market watchers
expect the fallout from this serious economic crisis
to last through 2010, acknowledging that the risk is
unpredictable and difficult to measure.
What is Nissan’s position amid the turmoil? Our
responsibility is to steer a course through the storm,
with focused, disciplined management, and to be
poised to grow when economic conditions improve.
Our course is outlined in our new business plan,
NISSAN GT 2012, which emphasizes growth and
trust. NISSAN GT 2012 combines our plans for
growth with our desires for sustainable development,
and its three major corporate commitments identify
our priorities for the next five years.
The first commitment is to quality, which is essential
for a world-class automaker and the integrity of its
brands. We are working to set the industry standard in
quality in our products, services, brands, management
and overall operations. With no difference between our
performance and any category leader, our performance
should enhance the relationships of trust we have with
our customers and other stakeholders.
The second commitment is for Nissan to become
a global leader in zero-emission vehicles, along with
Renault. We will launch all-electric cars in the United
States and Japan in 2010, and we will mass-market
them globally in 2012. Nissan will provide an
automotive answer to today’s most pressing
environmental issues, delivering more pleasure of
mobility with next-generation technologies.
NISSAN GT 2012’s third commitment is to
achieve 5 percent revenue growth on average
between fiscal 2008 and fiscal 2012. Our product
plan will support revenue growth, delivering a steady
cadence of passenger vehicle launches, as well as
an accelerated global release of light commercial
vehicles starting in 2010.
The Alliance with Renault continues to be a vital
growth pillar for Nissan, and we have taken strategic
steps forward on many fronts. We have made major
investments in new manufacturing complexes in
India and Morocco. We are preparing the Alliance
ultra-low-cost car, one that will allow many people to
have access to transportation they could not have
afforded otherwise. We are exploring opportunities
through Renault’s partnership with Avtovaz in Russia.
We are working together to mass-market electric
vehicles and achieve zero-emission leadership in the
global automobile industry. The Renault-Nissan
Alliance is becoming more proactive, creating value
both in familiar markets and in new, growing markets.
As we begin to implement NISSAN GT 2012,
market conditions are presenting serious challenges
for every automaker, but these conditions are not
expected to last forever. Our senior leadership team
will act prudently to protect Nissan’s results and our
cash flow in fiscal 2008 and to support our
performance in fiscal 2009 and 2010. We will be
aided by Nissan’s strategic decisions and actions
from the past few years, which have resulted in
better focus on our customers, improved brand
strength and stronger financial health. When growth
resumes, Nissan will be ready with the right products,
the right technologies and the right performance.
With NISSAN GT 2012, we have a clear direction
for the next five years. Despite current headwinds, we
are excited about the possibilities we see for growth in
developing markets and for a new era of sustainable
mobility. Growth and trust are much more than
business plan themes; they are essential imperatives
on which Nissan’s future will be sustained.
Carlos Ghosn
President and Chief Executive Officer