ge4652184004383585565
Ken Gratton20 Mar 2014
NEWS

Nissan clears the decks

Importer cuts jobs and offers big discounts to optimise business ahead of new MD placing his feet under the desk
Nissan Australia has implemented a significant course correction ahead of new managing director Richard Emery (pictured) taking the reins on April 1. 
Prior to Emery's appointment the local arm has been managed by interim MD Peter Jones, following the sudden departure of predecessor Bill Peffer in September last year. Jones will remain in the big chair until the end of the current (Japanese) fiscal year on March 31. 
A number of middle-level managerial staff at Nissan Australia – perhaps as many as 12 – have been dismissed, sources close to the company have told motoring.com.au. Among those staff members were Jeff Fisher, General Manager of Motorsport, and formerly General Manager for Corporate Communications and Motorsport. 
Fisher's dismissal last week doesn't spell the end for Nissan's involvement in V8 Supercars, according to Nissan's General Manager for Corporate Communications, Peter Fadeyev, who would not confirm the extent of the staff cuts.
In a communiqué, Fadeyev said that Fisher's departure is one element of a shake-up in Nissan's marketing team that, if anything, will strengthen the brand's involvement in local motorsport. 
"Nissan Motor Company Australia can confirm that its manager of motorsport, Jeff Fisher, has departed the company. This personnel change is part of a restructure within Nissan’s local marketing operations, the results of which will see greater emphasis on specific local marketing investments such as motorsport. The structure for motorsport within the Nissan Australia marketing team is in the process of being finalised and an announcement will be made in the near future."
The company doesn't plan at this stage to shed any further jobs. 
"Nissan Australia has made numerous changes to its business structure in recent months, including the deployment and size of head office staff. This change to staffing is anticipated to be a one-off change."
Rumours emanating from Nissan's disgruntled dealer network have highlighted problems with oversupply of some models, and wholesaling practices that have left dealers no option but to register new cars and sell them on the used car lot. 
Credible reports indicate dealers are rejecting new stock of the Pulsar, on the grounds they can't sell the stock they already hold, and the new-generation Y62 Patrol is being discounted by as much as $30,000 to clear it. Other models – including the run-out X-TRAIL – are sitting on grass in large numbers at Nissan's holding facility in Laverton North (Vic.). 
The excess stock may be a consequence of Peffer's approach to marketing new product in Australia. Back in October 2012 Peffer told motoring.com.au that the company was launching the Pulsar with "several thousand units," to make "a fast start" in the small car segment. Ordering more stock when competitors expect the reverse is a tactic that has worked for Mazda in the past, but appears to have let down Nissan in this instance. 
Dealers state they have been under intense pressure from Nissan Australia HQ to register new cars, well beyond the market demand. The sudden cessation of that tactic – if that cessation has indeed occurred – would explain why Nissan's sales in the first two months of this year have slumped by 43.7 per cent, according to VFACTS. 
And the brand's share of the local market has dropped back from 8.8 per cent last year (in line with the company's Power88 global business plan) to just 5.2 per cent, year-on-year. 
The graphs here, modelled on VFACTS data, tell the tale. The Altima has not been in the market long enough to make much of an impact in the medium car segment, but certainly didn't make much of a sales splash following its launch. Nor has it overtaken Ford's Mondeo (in the final year of its model life cycle), let alone come close to the Mazda6 and segment champ, the Toyota Camry. 
In the light car segment the combination of Micra and Almera outsold the volatile Mitsubishi Mirage during the month of October, but the two Nissans haven't pipped 1000 units in any month since March last year. The trend for the two is downwards and the drop away in January and February this year is a clear sign of some sudden dramatic shift in the business environment for these two models. 
Other than highs at the end of the previous financial year and prior to Christmas, the Pulsar has also trended downwards, with fewer than 14,000 units sold over the last 12 months. That's the same sort of sales path the Tiida took after its launch in 2006 – a gradual decline from the previous highs of the N16 Pulsar it replaced. 
Like the light car twins in Nissan's stable, there was a steep dip in January for the current Pulsar, with just a partial recovery in February. Toyota’s Corolla also dipped in January, but that's par for the course; the Toyota being heavily reliant on fleet sales and therefore selling fewer cars during the festive season holiday period. In contrast, the Mazda3's sales rose in January (with the previous-generation model in run-out), and sales of Hyundai's i30 have been the most stable of the four. 
The VFACTS figures tell a story of a company attempting to transfer global marketing ideals (Power88) to a relatively small, mature market like Australia – with an intensely competitive set of brand rivals duking it out for market share. 
But if things have been looking bleak for Nissan, there is a ray of light beaming through the gloom. The company has an 80th birthday sale campaign running through to the end of March and has actively promoted the clearance of 2013 X-TRAIL and Dualis stock, ahead of the new X-TRAIL and Qashqai (a successor to the Dualis) in coming months. 
Furthermore, following the release of the Pulsar SSS sedan and Pathfinder hybrid, there's a revitalised Pulsar on the way and Nissan is actually struggling to find enough stock of the current Navara ST ute to meet customer demand. 
In the circumstances, now seems like a good time to pay a visit to a Nissan dealer and do a deal.
Share this article
Written byKen Gratton
See all articles
Our team of independent expert car reviewers and journalistsMeet the team
Stay up to dateBecome a carsales member and get the latest news, reviews and advice straight to your inbox.
Download the carsales app
    AppStoreDownloadGooglePlayDownload
    App Store and the Apple logo are trademarks of Apple Inc. Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC.
    © CAR Group Ltd 1999-2024
    In the spirit of reconciliation we acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.