Nissan gears up in market race

During the past two years Nissan has grown into a force to be reckoned with in the Thai auto market after its launch of the March eco-car in March 2010. 

Nissan enjoyed a tremendous amount of orders for the March, which was the first eco-car to hit the Thai market. It made Nissan the market leader in no time. 

Then in October last year, the company introduced a second eco-car – the Almera – and up to date the company has already sold more than 115,000 eco-cars in a market that has become highly competitive due to the entry of other major brands including Honda, Suzuki and Mitsubishi. Nevertheless, the March and Almera still maintained high popularity, and this has made Nissan the leader in the Thai eco-car market. 

However, that seems to be just the first step for Nissan. There are more to come and Takayuki Kimura, the president of Nissan Motor (Thailand), talked to The Nation about the company’s future plans. 

Kimura is not only responsible for the Thai market, but he is also president of Nissan Motor Asia Pacific and deputy manager of Nissan Motor for Asia and Oceania. 

He has more than 20 years experience and was formerly president of Nissan Motor Indonesia, earning him the trust from Nissan’s management to run its business in this part of the world and continue Nissan’s aggressive moves to win more market share. 

After taking up his position in Thailand in April this year, Kimura stressed that Nissan was ready to go out and win more market share through the “Power Up 2016” business plan, which aimed at winning a 15-per-cent market share in Thailand by 2016, along with the launching of no less than 10 new models. This would allow the company to offer a wide variety of products. Meanwhile, he also said that Nissan will give more importance to after sales servicing through its dealers with continuous expansion plans. 

Just a few months after making that statement, Kimura has already launched the first attack, announcing that Nissan will become the No 2 auto-maker in the Thai market in a few years from today. 

Considering the number of vehicles Nissan plans to sell in 2016, which is close to the period the Federation of Thai Industries forecasts Thai auto production will grow to 3 million vehicles per year in 2017, Nissan will be selling well over 200,000 vehicles in Thailand . 

However, the new NMT president says it may not be easy for Thailand to produce 3 million vehicles per year, since the country will need three more large assembly plants. But it is not impossible either, and Nissan has its own plans that could help achieve this goal. 

“Since we have both passenger cars and commercial vehicles in our product line-up, with more vehicles to fill every segment of the market while many of our competitors do not have vehicles in every segment, there is a possibility that we can overtake them and win the No 2 position. Although this goal may take many years to achieve, it is not above our reach. In 2016 we think that Thailand's total market should reach 1.4 million vehicles, judging from the national GDP growth. And if we want a 15-per-cent share, surely we need to sell more than 200,000 vehicles,” he said. “The policies of the Thai government in the past, including the First Car Buyer Programme, has greatly benefited the Thai economy. And that has created much confidence for investors who now want to enter Thailand. Our ally, parts-maker Faltex, is preparing to invest in a door-handle factory in Thailand since they see the opportunity for growth. The AEC [Asean Economic Community] is also another factor that will attract investors,” Kimura pointed out, adding that Nissan’s ally has already invested in a CVT transmission plant in 2011. 

In order to strengthen Nissan further, Kimura admitted that Nissan will have to invest more, both in terms of raising capacity and improving efficiency, including increasing the number of dealers, showrooms and service centers (250 by 2016). 

“We are building a new assembly plant in Bang Na near our present factory. Although Mitsubishi is assembling pickup trucks for us according to our agreement, they must also raise production for other models, especially for the Mirage eco-car, which has enjoyed dramatic growth and is also targeted for export. This is the reason why we decided to invest in a new assembly plant. The details would be announced at a press conference in the very near future,” Kimura revealed. 

Nissan has already sent invitations to the media for the conference scheduled for November 2 at the Siam Motors Building . 

This is a strong hint that the plan will include its robust relationship with Siam Motors, which is owned by the Phornprapha family, the former Nissan distributor in Thailand, as well as a shareholder in NMT. 

According to industry sources, the new Nissan plant will have a capacity of 100,000 vehicles per year and will cost Bt10 billion. It will be located on land belonging to the Phornprapha family, and will concentrate on assembling pickup trucks. 

“This is because Nissan’s existing plant has no room for expansion, which explains why it had to produce 60,000 vehilces per year of the Navara at Mitsubishi’s plant in Laem Chabang,” the source said. 

It can be seen that the new Nissan investment is in harmony with its global “Nissan Power 88” plan announced by Carlos Ghosn. Ghosn said Nissan wants to raise its brand further and increase global market share to 8 per cent along with operation profits to 8 per cent by 2016. 

The regional plan involves an eco-car project in Indonesia, strengthen domestic R&D and engine production by increasing staff at the Nissan Technical Centre Asia Pacific, double regional production from 370,000 vehicles per year to 700,000 per year to cater to the growing Asean market, and set up Nissan Motor Asia Pacific in Thailand to serve as its regional headquarters. 

According to the source, Nissan plans to launch no less than five new models. 

“The latest model will be opening up a new market segment by offering a mini MPV with a small engine like the eco-car for Thai customers. This follows the tremendous success Nissan has had with the March and Almera,” the source added. 

Meanwhile, Kimura said that Nissan has 30,000 back orders, which should be cleared before the year ends. 

“We have a large lot to be delivered to customers in October and November, which will help us achieve our target of 120,000 vehicles this year,” he said. 

However, attractive models and campaigns will cause more back orders to rush in, and as much as 45,000 back orders could extend to next year as customers rush to purchase cars before the First Car scheme deadline arrives on December 31. 

“We are not concerned with sales for only this year or next year, but we are looking far into the future. In order to reach our targets, we must be able to answer to customers and make Nissan a brand that customers love and are proud of. Nissan must be the first brand that consumers think of,” he said.