In an interview with Les Echos, Nissan General Manager Makoto Uchida manager explained his transformation plan:
“The transformation of Nissan is on the “Nissan Next” plan that we have presented. It’s not just a simple plan with medium term goals, it’s about streamlining our organisation. Currently, we have a production capacity of 7.2 million vehicles per year, but we need to get closer to the 5 million, which is what we actually manufacture. This will involve reducing the number of models we offer, but it is also an opportunity to rejuvenate our offer. This rationalisation will lower our fixed costs, but it is above all the only way to put the group back on the growth path. With this new strategy, we will focus on our three priority markets: China, the United States, and Japan.
“We are betting a lot on the Ariya, an all-electric model that we will be presenting next July. The commercial version is going to be quite close to the concept we unveiled last year in Tokyo. It’s a concentrate of our best technologies, in terms of empowerment, electrification and design. There’s a lot of internal excitement around this project. The last two years have been very difficult, in terms of management and performance, but I keep saying that Nissan is much better than that. It’s time to prove it.
“We never expected the Nissan brand to leave Europe. This brand has great strengths, in the electric or autonomous car, these are areas where it can be appreciated. But we do have to cut costs, which is why we have had to make tough decisions. We must also use the assets and expertise of Renault, our partner in the Alliance, to improve our competitiveness.”