Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Internal Assessment
Standard Level
Introduction ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3
Conclusion ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10
Bibliography ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11
INTRODUCTION:
created in 1933. It founded its headquarters in Nishi-Ku, Yokohama 1. Nissan has been
involved in a strategical alliance with Renault since 1999. In 2016 Mitsubishi was added
to the alliance after Nissan’s ex CEO Carlos Ghosn had seen an opportunity on the
lowered share prices due to a current crisis Mitsubishi was facing and bought 34% of it.
(SD 2)
In the last years Nissan has entered a financial crisis 2. The company was
somewhat adrift and the relationship with Renault was too. After the CEO post Ghosn
era had foregone, Makoto Uchida assumed as the new executive director 3 and saw, on
the critical situation of financial loss and the recent Covid-19 virus emerging as a real
Plan4 was presented in order to carry out the “alliance project” throughout the world.
(SDs 2, 3, 4)
Rounding this issue, Should Nissan strengthen its alliance with Renault and
1
Data taken from Nissan´s international webpage.
2
which was caused, among other things, by the imprisonment for fraud of Carlos Ghosh.
3
was previously disposed on charges which were aimed to increase Nissan-Renault synergy’s
4
ruled by shortages in many direct and indirect financial aspects
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planning. SWOT analysis assesses internal and external factors, as well as current and
gray areas and instead focusing on real-life contexts. Companies should use it as a
Strengths: Beyond the alliance, Nissan's main positive internal factors are; its
recognition and global value5. Furthermore, Nissan has a high research and
development expenditure, which has enabled Nissan to improve and specialize its
products on the basis of the safety of its clients, in turn environmental care and the
constantly evolving to originate vehicles with more advanced and future technologies.
What’s more, within its brand portfolio Nissan does not depend on a sector or segment.
Contrary to this, it has developed products in passenger cars, zero emission vehicles,
pacts, wagon sedan, SUV6, mini wagons, cross-car, luxury cars, vans and light
commercial vehicles. They also sell marine products, such as motor boats, engines,
pontons, cleaning boats and cruisers. Besides, referring to the company’s geographical
presence, it has manufactured in 20 countries and marketed in more than 170 countries
in the world, being their central markets North America, Japan, China, Mexico and the
5
(with an estimated brand value of around $17,785 billion, occupying the seventh place in the highest automobile marks)
6
sports utility vehicles
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Middle East (Bhasin, H). In addition, the company owned 34% of the shares of
Mitsubishi (an alliance member); this allowed it to have a great control over the alliance
managing two of its three members and, therefore, being capable of handling Mitsubishi
Weaknesses: Nissan’s main negative internal factors are: the last year’s negative
financial results, which led the company into its current crisis. For instance, operating
profit fell to 54.3 billion yen7 for the three months ended in December, plunging 83%
from the same quarter a year before (SD3) and a decline from 15% to 20% in its total
insurable value compared to the previous year. This was, however, partially attributed to
the pandemic situation8, and also to a 10.6% decrease in sales compared to the
previous year (SD1). Another issue was the damaging of the company’s public image
with 307,962 vehicles under recall in January of 2020 and the Carlos Ghosn
imprisonment in 20189 which did not influence the brand image positively. (SD2)
Opportunities: The main opportunities the company will be facing could be foremost
attributed to the alliance. These are; chances to focus on its core markets such as
Japan, China and North America and face them with their best-known global core model
opportunity that is viewed as the future of automobiles, but in Nissan case is rather an
actual fact than a future wish, is the sales expansion of electric vehicles and electric-
motor-driven cars -including E-power-. It’s important to highlight that these aspects are
7
($504 million)
8
COVID-19
9
was the company’s CEO for more than thirteen years.
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possible owing to the alliance statements in which they are willing to share sources
Threats: The main threats the company might be facing are: above any other menace,
the pandemic situation and its indefinite duration that could seriously affect the post
economic, cultural and political situation, either globally or in any of the countries where
Nissan is focusing, pointing in the economical theme, What’s more, the extensive
competition fomented by the global situation which has led to a current crisis of many
delayed or not met and, therefore, demanding a consistent reaction of the company to
Ansoff matrix
The Ansoff matrix is an analytical tool that helps managers to devise their
product and market growth strategies. It shows the various strategies that a business
can adopt depending on whether it wants to market new or existing products in either
There are four existing growth strategies in the Ansoff matrix: market penetration,
based on introducing existing products into new markets, Products Development -new
products into existing markets- and diversification (new products into new markets).
(Hoang 2018)
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Nissan will be applying the Market Penetration strategy to ensure steady growth.
Therefore, by the appliance of this strategy, Nissan expects to enhance the quality of
its business, while maintaining financial discipline and focusing on net revenue per unit
to achieve profitability (SD1); this is possible due to the fact that the strategy means low
risk growth possibilities and Nissan did not see convenience getting involved in a risky
should be aware of and prepare for aggressive techniques, such as price wars, in the
the desirability of the product or the offer of more competitive prices would increase the
However, this general market penetration does not mean the automobile
manufacturer will be unproductive on new vehicle models during this new stage faced
by the company. Although its strategy will in general terms imply a market penetration
strategy, 12 models are planned to be introduced in the next 18 months and specifically
in Japan, two more electric vehicles and four more e-POWER vehicles aiming to
increase electrification ratio to 60% of sales. As this occurred, the strategy could also be
Nonetheless, the number of models they are aiming at could be justified, in the context
of Nissan plans for 2023 and the alliance, as a way of keeping the company’s validity in
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Internal growth
production capacity (20% capacity reduction 10) and the stream lining portfolio (reduce
the number of models by 20% by 2023 11), reallocate resources to globally competitive
models, shorten product life cycle 12), and carry out a cutting on the fixed costs (achieve
a 300 billion JPY13 reduction in it by 2020 so in 2023 an investment in core with tighter
control can be held). By doing these things Nissan will be able to increase capital
expenditure, provide overall value for money -customers will tend to look at more than
just price when making purchasing decisions and with the stream lining product portfolio
As it will be targeting core markets such as China, Japan and North America 14,
the company will be selling extensively through a more specific area but its production
might be improved owing to the strengthening of the alliance in which it was agreed to
Nevertheless, all these measures might require that the 20/23 project is on a big
internal restructure which requires time, effort and money. In this case, one of the prices
10
5.4 million units under normal operation, production line reductions and select facility closures, production utilization
11
from 69 to 55
12
to manage portfolio age < 4 years old
13
Japanese Yen
14
while in Europe, Latin America and ASEAN the alliance will be levering
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plants15 and the optimization of the North America plants by the production by segment
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Many people are left jobless
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This implies large amounts of money and dedicated time.
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Conclusion:
Nissan alliance could be useful to overcome the current crisis, that beyond its project
within the alliance Nissan should, in order to achieve all its goals and objectives of short
opportunities in each market. Anyway, the Nissan plan does not admit a large mistake
margin, being at the same time, more conservative than ambitious on its aims. Hence, if
the advertising strategies are well-developed, the success possibilities will be high for
Nissan and, therefore, the alliance would have been almost a full extent success.
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Bibliography:
Supporting documents
Supporting document 1
https://global.nissannews.com/en/releases/release-293ce8d1ca9dbfc2922d2297c900ebc5-
200528-03-e
Supporting document 2
Riley, C., 2020. Renault And Nissan Deepen Their Alliance In Bid To Survive The Coronavirus
com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/05/27/business/renaultnissan-
mitsubishialliance/index.html?amp_js_v=a3&_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQFKAGwASA
%3D#aoh=15907227234222&csi=1&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&_tf=From
%20%251%24s&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com
%2F2020%2F05%2F27%2Fbusiness%2Frenault-nissan-mitsubishi-alliance%2Findex.html
Supporting document 3
Inagaki, S., 2020. Nissan’S Makoto Uchida: Seeking The Right Direction In Times Of Crisis.
fcd274e920ca
Supporting documents 4
Clime, K. (2020, February 01). Is Mitsubishi Owned by Nissan? Retrieved September 17,
2020, from https://www.motorbiscuit.com/is-mitsubishi-owned-by-nissan/
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Websites
https://wwweuronews.com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.euronews.com/amp/202
0/05/28/coronaviruseconomic-fallout-nissan-announces-closure-of-
barcelonaplant?amp_js_v=a3&_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQFKAGwASA
%3D#aoh=15907226090378&csi=1&referrer=https%3A%2F
%2Fwww.google.com&_tf=From%20%251%24s&share=https%3A%2F
%2Fwww.euronews.com%2F2020%2F05%2F28%2Fcoronavirus-economic-
fallout-nissan-announces-closure-of-barcelona-plant
Nissan-Why-not-a-proper-merger
Edition, 2018.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2020/01/14/commentary/japan-
commentary/not-irreversible-renault-nissan-alliance/#.XtidOJ5lmdk
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/swot.asp
N. and Attwood, J., 2020. Why Renault, Nissan And Mitsubishi Have Gone All-In
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https://www.autocar.co.uk/opinion/industry/why-renault-nissan-and-mitsubishi-
have-gone-all-alliance
https://driving.ca/nissan/auto-news/news/nissan-now-officially-owns-a-majority-
of-mitsubishi-motors
https://global.nissannews.com/en/releases/release-
b0788fbad5f7d39c2ecd4f79ec00f7cc-190725-01-e
analysis-nissan/
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Supporting document 1
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Right-sizing Nissan’s production capacity by 20% to 5.4 million units a year under
the assumption of a standard shift operation
Achieving plant utilization rate above 80%, making operations more profitable
Rationalizing the global product line-up by 20% (from 69 to fewer than 55
models)
Reducing fixed costs by approximately 300 billion yen
Intend to close Barcelona plant in Western Europe
Consolidating North American production around core models
Closure of manufacturing facility in Indonesia and concentrating on Thailand
plant as single production base in ASEAN
Alliance partners to share resources, including production, models, and
technologies
Focusing Nissan’s core operations in the markets of Japan, China and North
America
Focusing on global core model segments including enhanced C and D segment
vehicles, electric vehicles, sport cars
Introduce 12 models in the next 18 months
Expanding presence in EVs and electric-motor-driven cars, including e-POWER,
with more than 1 million electrified sales units expected a year by end of FY23,
In Japan, launching two more electric vehicles and four more e-POWER
vehicles, increasing electrification ratio to 60% of sales
Introducing ProPILOT advanced driver assistance system in more than 20
models in 20 markets, targeting more than 1.5 million units to be equipped with
this system per year by the end of FY23.
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Supporting document 2
London(CNN Business)Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors will make fewer models, share production
facilities and focus on the existing geographic and technological strengths of each carmaker as they try
The world's biggest car-making alliance said Wednesday that it would abandon the growth at all costs
strategy pursued by former boss Carlos Ghosn, whose arrest in 2018 on financial misconduct charges
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Renault could 'disappear' without government help, French finance minister warns
"The alliance's new model focuses on efficiency and competitiveness rather than on volumes," Jean-
Dominique Senard, the chairman of Renault, told reporters. "Our aim is to increase the competitiveness
The new strategy will see each alliance member taking the lead in specific geographies while the others
follow. Nissan (NSANF), for example, will lead the way in North America, the Middle East and key
markets in Asia including China and Japan. Renault (RNLSY) will take first position in Europe and South
America, while Mitsubishi has been assigned parts of southeast Asian and Oceania.
The alliance will apply a similar strategy to technology and engineering. Nissan will take the lead on
autonomous driving, while Renault will tackle Android-based connected car technologies. The companies
will also reduce the overall number of models they sell, build more cars on shared platforms and design
them to use more of the same parts. Renault and Nissan are expected to announce job cuts and plant
The two companies have been partners since 1999, cooperating on strategy and product development
while never taking the plunge and completing a full merger. Together with junior partner Mitsubishi
Motors, the unique alliance employs roughly 450,000 people and in 2018 it sold roughly one in every nine
The companies have so far largely maintained separate manufacturing facilities. But under the new
strategy, more plants will produce cars for each brand. In Latin America, for example, two factories will
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The deepening of the commitment marks a major change: As recently as last year, Renault had been
looking outside the alliance to cut costs, holding merger talks with Fiat Chrysler. The Italian-American
company went on to agree to a merger with the owner of Peugeot and Citroen, closing off a potential
The departure of Ghosn, who has denied acting improperly, sparked a series of leadership changes at
both carmakers, confusion over their strategy and questions over whether the sputtering relationship had
outlived its usefulness. Nissan and Renault, which are linked through a series of equity stakes, in January
Then the coronavirus hit, plunging the alliance deeper into crisis and necessitating a sweeping overhaul.
Nissan will reportedly announce this week that it will reduce its global production capacity by 20% and
close a plant in Barcelona. Japanese media reported that Nissan could slash its workforce by 20,000.
Renault could also stop making two models in Spain and move that production to Nissan's massive plant
performance in a decade last year, with net profit dropping 99% to just €19 million ($21 million). Its share
In April, the company's global sales dropped by nearly 70% compared to the same month last year as the
pandemic slammed Europe and North America. The company halted production at its 12 facilities in
France in the middle of March, resuming operations at most plants only this month.
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There has also been turmoil in the leadership ranks, with Ghosn's immediate successor as CEO, Thierry
Bolloré, being ousted last October in what he denounced as a "coup." Bolloré's successor, Luca de Meo,
France's finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, warned Friday that Renault is in "serious financial difficulty."
The French government owns 15% of Renault, and is currently negotiating the terms of a €5 billion ($5.4
billion) loan for the company. The finance minister said last week that Renault must not close a factory
north of Paris — one of the few facilities that currently produces cars for Nissan.
"We sign when we know what Renault's strategy is," Le Maire told the radio station. The company's plans
must include a transition to more eco-friendly vehicles. "We want Renault to be more productive and to
On Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced an $8.8 billion aid package for the
country's embattled auto industry. The plan includes big incentives for consumers to buy new cars, with
the government offering subsidies worth more than $7,000 for electric vehicles and $2,000 for a hybrid.
Nissan, which reports financial results for fiscal year 2019 on Thursday, has endured four straight
quarters of declining profits. Operating profit fell to 54.3 billion yen ($504 million) for the three months
ended in December, plunging 83% from the same quarter a year before.
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Supporting document 3
Nissan’s Makoto Uchida: Seeking the right direction in times of crisis
Shortly after taking over the scandal-hit group, the new boss was dealing with the coronavirus outbreak
Just weeks after Makoto Uchida was appointed to lead Nissan in early December, news of the
coronavirus outbreak in China reached the Japanese carmaker. His wife and two children were still
based in Wuhan, the early centre of the pandemic that has now killed more than 64,000 people
worldwide. The city is home to the headquarters of Nissan’s joint venture with China’s Dongfeng Motor.
“My employees are my family too, so we wanted to make sure they were safe and treated well. That
comes first,” says the 53-year-old who used to head the company’s operations in China before becoming
chief executive. Mr Uchida says he was also extra careful in how the company communicated its
response to the virus: “We should not be exaggerating the situation or unnecessarily inviting panic mode
or uncertainty among our employees.” Since the outbreak, Nissan has given regular updates and
guidelines to employees on health and safety, and tips on how to stay connected while working virtually
through Zoom or Skype. Mr Uchida and other executives also communicate regularly with HR and line
managers. For both the company and the wider car industry, the lessons drawn from the 2011 Tohoku
earthquake and tsunami proved vital. The detailed list of parts suppliers that had been compiled after
that earlier disaster helped Nissan to figure out which parts were imported from China and where the
shortages might occur, so it could set up back-up plans to produce them elsewhere, according to Mr
Uchida. Recommended AnalysisThe Big Read Jean-Dominique Senard’s fight to rescue the Renault-
Nissan alliance Even so, Nissan, with its heavy reliance on hundreds of components made in China,
became one of the first global carmakers to cut production at home because of a parts shortage. “We
need to make a lot of planning. I still cannot foresee how much impact this uncertainty will have” with
the pandemic now spreading to the US, Europe and elsewhere, says Mr Uchida. Even before Covid-19,
the CEO had enough problems to deal with. The carmaker was facing a serious crisis since the 2018
arrest of its former chairman Carlos Ghosn on financial misconduct charges, which the ex-chair denies.
Losses were building up on tumbling sales worldwide, and its 21-year alliance with France’s Renault had
nearly collapsed. Mr Uchida’s arrival was meant to mark a new start for the company. Instead, his
former boss stole the spotlight as he made an audacious escape from Japan to Lebanon, launching a
public tirade against Nissan executives for plotting to bring him down — a claim strongly disputed by the
company. “People were a bit demotivated. In a way, they were worried about what direction the
company was moving towards,” Mr Uchida says. Now, Nissan’s plants located all over the world have
been temporarily shut down because of the lockdown of cities and supply chain disruptions caused by
the spread of coronavirus, triggering a two-notch downgrade of its debt by rating agency Moody’s to
just above junk territory. Shares in the company have nearly halved this year. Still, in a message to
employees at the start of the new financial year on April 1, Mr Uchida said: “We will have to endure
inconvenience and uncertainty for some time. However, we can definitely weather the storm.” As he
started the role of CEO, he placed top priority on visiting the gemba — the factory floors and design
centres in Japan, the US and Europe — where he held town hall meetings with employees. Staff asked
their new boss how they could help the management to repair the Nissan brand. “Our individual
capability is much higher than what we are delivering today,” Mr Uchida says. “It’s my job and the
management’s job . . . to move the company in the right direction.” As part of efforts to rebuild its
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brand, Mr Uchida has talked often about the new “Nissan Way” with employees, saying the group’s
corporate culture needs to be transformed to put an even bigger emphasis on customer needs in each
market. “If you take it seriously and act proactively, I believe that Nissan’s future will be brighter,” Mr
Uchida said in a message to employees in February. Recommended FT Magazine The downfall of Carlos
Ghosn Restoring that direction will entail pain, Mr Uchida says. Following years of aggressively pursuing
a higher market share and sales volume during the Ghosn era, the company has shifted its focus to
profitability. But that has meant Nissan will be concentrating more on areas where it is strong and
withdrawing from markets where its position is lagging. The division of roles within the alliance, which
also includes Mitsubishi Motors, will be more explicit, with each partner taking the lead in markets and
technologies where it has an edge. Under his predecessor, the carmaker had outlined plans to cut
12,500 jobs, but the rapid deterioration in business conditions and plant shutdowns caused by Covid-19
mean there will be many more jobs lost. “We may need to rightsize more dramatically,” Mr Uchida says,
without elaborating on the details. Mr Uchida is an outlier among Japanese executives inside Nissan,
who have mostly stayed at the company since graduating. He spent many years of his childhood outside
of Japan as his father, who worked at an airline, was posted to places such as Egypt and Malaysia.
“That’s where I found the diversity, culture and adaptability to different circumstances,” he says. After
studying theology, Mr Uchida spent more than a decade at a trading house now known as Sojitz. His first
experience with the automotive industry was during the five and a half years he spent in the Philippines,
where the trading house had a joint venture with Mitsubishi Motors. He then joined Nissan in 2003,
starting in the purchasing division before being assigned roles in South Korea and later in China. The
multicultural experience was one of the key factors why the company’s nomination committee selected
Mr Uchida as its new CEO to lead during a period of uncertainty and tension within the alliance.
Following two decades of one-man leadership under Mr Ghosn, Nissan is experimenting with a troika
management team that also includes Ashwani Gupta, who is now the chief operating officer. The
approach is untested, and critics say it makes it unclear who is actually leading the company. But Mr
Uchida says: “If we set the right direction, I think this company has a lot of strength to revive itself.”
Three questions for Makoto Uchida Who is your leadership hero? I don’t really have one but six years
ago, I listened to a Japanese lecturer from a different industry on leadership. There is one thing he said
which is still with me, and which I try to do everyday. He said: “Leadership means how much you can
open your capacity to listen to people”. Every morning, I try to ask myself, am I opening my capacity to
listen to people? If we start ignoring listening to our people, that would cause mismanagement. I am not
managing to do it perfectly but I think this is important. If you were not a CEO/leader, what would you
be? I would be doing totally different things. I wanted to be a chef. I love eating. I like cooking. I like
people saying it’s delicious. If you do the effort, the outcome is there when it comes to food. The result
is always promising as long as you do it the right way. It’s more or less the same with business. If you do
it the right way, the result always comes. What was the first leadership lesson you learnt? In Nissan, it
was definitely diversity. This is the reason why I have to remind myself that trust, transparency and
respect is very important. In the beginning when I joined (the alliance with Renault), it was very
challenging because even the English is different. There is the French way of English. For example, they
always say global and global in French English means holistic. In Japanese English, when you say
“basically yes”, that means no. We have different cultures in the alliance, which is also very beautiful.
Whether it’s working with French, Japanese or Americans, every single kind of lesson gives you the
flexibility to work under diverse circumstances.
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Supporting Document 4
Is Mitsubishi Owned by
Nissan?
by Katie Climeon February 1, 2020
It’s no secret that the Mitsubishi car company was in serious trouble back in 2015. Although it was turning
a profit, Mitsubishi was racked with scandal internationally for exaggerating the fuel economy of one of
its more popular cars for decades. The result was a loss of over a $1 billion in 2016 and a mighty fall for
the once-proud Japanese company. At that point, Mitsubishi’s woes required the aid of one of the
biggest car companies in the world, Nissan.
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