Nissan Announces Plans for U.S. Restructuring
20 May 1998
Nissan Announces Plans for U.S. Restructuring As It Prepares for Product Onslaught in North America TORRANCE, Calif., May 20 -- As part of a worldwide business
operations restructuring plan, Nissan announced today plans
for rebuilding its U.S. operations. The U.S. restructuring plan will focus on
making the company more flexible, responsive and efficient.
In the United States, changes are aimed at short-term and medium-term
measures. In the short term, Nissan North America, Inc. (NNA) and Nissan
Motor Corporation USA (NMC) will be consolidated by the end of this year. This
will enable more efficient market-oriented business management and will
facilitate more rapid decision making. The changes will lead the way for the
corporation to aggressively introduce eight new Nissan and Infiniti brand
vehicles over the next 18 months, to maximize its production efficiencies and
reduce the reliance on fleet and lease sales.
Over the medium-term, Nissan will further consolidate U.S. operations and
strengthen the competitiveness of core models, including producing more of
them in North America. In addition to the eight new models introduced through
calendar year 1999, Nissan will further strengthen its product lineup with the
introduction of new image-leading models.
"A major goal of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.'s (NML) plan to reform its
business operations globally is a resurgence of its business in the United
States," said NNA President Minoru Nakamura, who also has served as NMC
president since October. "This structural change will help us streamline our
North American operations, making Nissan more efficient and responsive in the
extremely competitive U.S. market. Our customers and dealers will benefit
from our improved ability to meet their needs. No staff reductions are
planned as a result of this consolidation.
"I am confident that all Nissan employees in North America will embrace
our efforts to reduce costs in all parts of our business as we provide our
customers with even more great products," he added. "Our success depends
upon satisfied and loyal customers, profitable dealers and a profitable Nissan
in North America."
The sales, marketing, service and advertising operations performed by NMC
will be consolidated with NNA, which has responsibilities for North American
operations of NML. Details of the consolidation will be announced later.
The restructuring comes at a crucial time as Nissan prepares the U.S.
launch of eight key vehicles in the next 18 months. The new vehicles for the
Nissan Division include a new Quest minivan, V6 and four-door versions of the
Frontier pickup truck, an all-new SUV, all-new Maxima and all-new Sentra. For
the Infiniti Division, new vehicles include the G20 and I30. Other models
will have minor facelifts during this period.
"We are taking these aggressive actions as part of our 'back to basics'
strategy as we embark on a program to launch these new vehicles in the United
States," Nakamura said. "These changes are in line with the strategy laid out
last October, when I became NMC president."
The U.S. consolidation was announced at the same time that Nissan Motor
Co. Ltd. (NML) issued a revised financial forecast for the fiscal year ending
March 31, 1998. (See separate release.) NML will announce its financial
results for the past fiscal year on May 27.
Nissan's wide-ranging global business reform plan includes:
-- Pursue an overseas strategy with emphasis on U.S. business;
-- Focusing on profitability before increased vehicle sales;
-- Development of technologies focused on environmental protection,
vehicle safety and Intelligent Transportation Systems;
-- Reduction of the number of new vehicle platforms from the current 25 to
14 in the fiscal year ending March 2001 and to 10 in the fiscal year
ending March 2003;
-- Reduce the number of Japanese domestic sales channels from four to two;
-- Promote business growth in Thailand and Taiwan over the mid- and
long-term;
-- Liquidation of some of NML's Japanese real estate holdings and
marketable securities.
-- Reduce the necessary amount of operating funds by slashing inventories
on a global level (approximately 250 billion yen by the year 2000).
In North America, Nissan's operations include styling, engineering,
manufacturing, sales, consumer and corporate financing, and industrial and
textile equipment. Nissan in North America employs more than 20,000 people in
the United States, Canada and Mexico, and generates more than 70,000 jobs
through more than 1,500 Nissan and Infiniti dealerships across the continent.
More information on Nissan in North America and the complete line of Nissan
and Infiniti vehicles can be found online at http://www.nissan-na.com.
Or visit the Nissan Online News Bureau at http://www.nissannews.com
