Posts Tagged ‘Carlos Ghosn’
Maker lifted by weak yen but hurt by ongoing China problems.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on May.10, 2013
Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn at the 2013 NY Auto Show.
Nissan kept its balance sheet in the black for the just-ended fiscal year, but despite the lift it got from the weakening yen, the maker had trouble overcoming the ongoing problems it faces in China, as well as some unexpected setbacks in the U.S. market.
The second-largest Japanese maker’s modest 0.3% increase in a net profit of ¥342.45 billion, or $3.4 billion, comes in sharp contrast to the tripling in profits reported earlier this week by arch-rival Toyota Motor Co.
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The two automakers were both hurt by problems in China stemming, but Nissan had other issues to deal with, senior officials acknowledged, the company’s CEO Carlos Ghosn telling reporters that “It’s clear that several negative factors outweighed (the) positive contributions” of such things as the weakening yen.
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Tags: Carlos Ghosn, Nissan sales, auto news, car news, nissan altima, nissan china, nissan earnings, nissan exchange rates, nissan news, nissan profit, nissan us, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, thedetroitbureau, toyota earnings
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Are further defections facing Chrysler’s overworked management team?
by Paul A. Eisenstein on Apr.15, 2013
Fred Diaz is shown here during the recent launch of the new Ram 1500 pickup.
Chrysler is scrambling to fill a big hole left in its senior management ranks following the unexpected defection of Fred Diaz, who had been running its fast-growing Ram truck brand. A 24-year Chrysler veteran, Diaz now becomes the new head of sales and marketing for the Nissan Brand in the U.S.
Considered one of the most influential Hispanic business leaders in the U.S., Diaz was one of a small cadre of close confidantes to Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne and helped the Ram brand generate a steady stream of month-over-month sales gains that outpaced the overall U.S. automotive recovery.
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Nissan now hopes that magic can rub off as it sets its sights on achieving a record 10% share of the U.S. market. The Japanese maker also hopes Diaz can help it finally pick up some traction in the light truck market when it launches an all-new version of the Titan pickup a little more than a year from now.
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Tags: Carlos Ghosn, Nissan Titan, Ram 1500, Sergio Marchionne, auto news, car news, chrysler news, diaz titan, fred diaz, fred diaz nissan, fred diaz ram, jose munoz, nissan news, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, ram news, thedetroitbureau
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Nissan/Renault chief also sees strong U.S. recovery but more troubles for Europe.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on Mar.28, 2013
Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn at the 2013 NY Auto Show.
Put on the defensive by the slow ramp-up of the maker’s battery cars, Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn put on a confident face during an appearance at the New York Auto Show and promised this will be a “milestone year” for the Leaf electric vehicle.
With the maker’s second battery-car plant now operating in Smyrna, Tennessee, the executive said inventory is up and demand rapidly growing.
Ghosn, meanwhile, offered a mixed assessment of the global automotive market, pronouncing a bright outlook for the U.S. but more troubles ahead for Europe. He also offered a cautiously upbeat outlook for China.
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“This is going to be a milestone year for Leaf,” Ghosn said, maintaining the positive outlook that has positioned him as the most upbeat of the industry’s top executives when it comes to the prospects for vehicle electrification. He continues to forecast that up to 10% of the vehicles sold by decade’s end will use some sort of battery power.
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Tags: 2013 ny auto show, 2013 nyias, Carlos Ghosn, auto news, car news, china car sales, exchange rates, ghosn ny, japan car production, nissan altima sales, nissan leaf, nissan leaf sales, nissan market share, nissan news, nissan ny, nissan profits, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, thedetroitbureau, yen exchange rates
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Renault/Nissan CEO remains strong battery car proponent.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on Mar.05, 2013
Don't expect much improvement in the European car market until at least 2016, warned Ghosn.
The slump in the European market continues to worsen, exceeding even the most gloomy forecasts, cautioned Carlos Ghosn, the CEO of the Renault/Nissan Alliance, and it is likely to take at least three years before things start to rebound, he said during a media roundtable at the Geneva Motor Show.
In a wide-ranging conversation, the Brazilian-born executive said that despite slow sales he remains a strong proponent of battery power. He also said that global corporations should take a hint from the ballot initiative approved by Swiss voters last weekend and put executive salaries up for shareholders to decide.
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European car sales plunged to the lowest level in nearly two decades last year and Ghosn, like many other observers, had been forecasting demand would slip another 3% to 5% as the Continent continued to struggle with a massive debt crisis that nearly shattered the European Union. But based on the results of the first two months of the year, the car market could post as much as an 8% drop for 2013, with little sign that the situation is ready to bottom out, warned the executive.
“The only question is whether it will be bad or very bad” in 2013, said Ghosn, adding that, “I don’t think anybody is forecasting a pick-up of the European market for the next three years.”
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Tags: Carlos Ghosn, auto news, car news, carlos ghosn europe car sales, europe auto sales, european car market, european car sales, executive pay, ghosn battery cars, ghosn electric vehicles, ghosn geneva motor show, ghosn on exec pay, nissan leaf, nissan news, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, renault news, swiss executive pay, swiss vote exec pay, thedetroitbureau
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Critical year ahead as Nissan launches U.S. battery-car plant.
by Joseph Szczesny on Feb.15, 2013
Nissan will reduce the price on a new version of its Leaf battery car by as much as $6,000.
What could be a critical year for the battery car market has gotten off to a shaky start. Demand for a number of the most familiar models took an unexpected skid in January, notably the Nissan Lead, whose U.S. sales fell by more than half from December.
Where that might discourage some manufacturers, however, Nissan officials have been sounding ever more upbeat. They dismiss the last month’s numbers as a temporary lull and insist the pace will pick up now that they’ve launched production at a new battery-car plant in Tennessee.
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And they stress that demand is already on the rise in other key markets. In fact, the maker notes, they’ve now sold more than 50,000 of the pure battery-electric vehicles, or BEVs, since the launch of the Nissan Leaf in late 2010.
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Tags: Carlos Ghosn, auto news, battery car sales, battery cars, car news, electric vehicles, ev sales, nissan leaf, nissan leaf sales, nissan news, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, thedetroitbureau
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But Europe will be an anchor again in 2013, warns Ghosn.
by Joseph Szczesny on Feb.15, 2013
Renault/Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn sees good times ahead -- everywhere but in Europe.
The Renault Group posted a profit of €1.7 billion, or $2.27 billion, for 2012 thanks to asset sales and a healthy contribution from affiliated companies, including Nissan and the group’s Russian partner AutoVaz where income tripled last year.
The reasonably strong performance by Renault, the second-largest of the French automakers, came in sharp contrast to its Paris-based rival PSA Peugeot Citroen, which ran up losses of €5.01 billion, or $6.74 billion, last year raising further concerns about its long-term health.
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But both makers will be facing a tough year ahead. After falling to the lowest level since 1995, the European market remains uncertain and is expected to contract by at least 3% in 2013, with the French market down 3% to 5%, forecast Renault Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn.
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Tags: Carlos Ghosn, auto news, car news, europe auto europe auto sales, joe szczesny, nissan-renault, peugeot loss, renault earns, renault news, renault profit, thedetroitbureau
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CEO Ghosn promises a product-led turnaround.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on Feb.11, 2013
No excuses from Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn.
CEO Carlos Ghosn didn’t try to sugar coast Nissan Motor Co.’s latest financial results, admitting the more than one-third drop in the maker’s latest quarterly earnings “did not meet our expectations.” The news comes in sharp contrast to the results at Japanese competitors including both Toyota Motor Co. and Mazda Motor Co.
Nonetheless, the chief executive – who also serves as CEO of alliance partner Renault – contends Nissan is taking “swift” action to put things back on track and should have the products to help “reignite” its momentum.
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In dollar terms, Nissan reported a $670 million profit for the three months ending on December 31st, a 34.6% decline. Revenues, meanwhile, slipped 5.3% for the quarter, to $27.23 billion. For the first nine months of the fiscal year, the second-largest Japanese maker has earned $2.91 billion based on an exchange rate of 81.1 yen to the U.S. dollar.
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Tags: Carlos Ghosn, auto news, car news, japan earnings, nissan altima, nissan earnings, nissan news, nissan profit, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, thedetroitbureau, toyota earnings
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But despite new Tenn. battery-car plant, hybrid batteries will still be imported.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on Jan.24, 2013
The hybrid-powered Nissan Resonance will reappear in production trim as the next-generation Nissan Murano.
Nissan is likely to start producing a new generation of hybrid-electric vehicles at its assembly plant in Smyrna, Tennessee in the near future.
The Infiniti JX is among the first models assembled in the U.S. that will be equipped with Nissan’s new 1-motor/2-clutch hybrid system, senior sources told TheDetroitBureau.com. Other American-made models, including the new Altima and Pathfinder, along with next-generation versions of the Rogue and Murano may also add hybrid drivelines in the near future.
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But countering some newly published reports, the batteries for the hybrids will likely continue to be imported from Japan despite the recent launch of a new lithium-ion plant alongside the sprawling Smyrna factory complex.
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Tags: Carlos Ghosn, Nissan Resonance, Nissan battery cars, auto news, car news, hybrid vehicles, infiniti hybrid, infiniti jx hybrid, infiniti news, nissan altima hybrid, nissan electric, nissan electric vehicles, nissan hybrid, nissan leaf, nissan news, nissan smyrna, nissan smyrna battery plant, nissan us hybrid production, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, thedetroitbureau
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But that’s the good news, many believe.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on Jan.21, 2013
Chrysler will add shifts - but avoid investing in new plants - as the US market continues to recover.
It could be a big year for the U.S. auto industry. After an unexpectedly strong close to 2012, most analysts anticipate the market will grow by as much as another million units this year – even more if Washington lawmakers can come up with a long-term solution to the nation’s debt and taxes debate.
Yet, while 15.5 million vehicles would mark the strongest sales the industry has experienced since the start of the long recession, the bad news is that this would still be well short of the more than 17 million peak the industry experienced during the middle of the last decade.
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Or maybe that’s the good news, a number of automotive leaders suggest. Ironically, some argue, it was chasing the previous market record that got the industry into so much trouble, adding too much capacity and then being forced to rely on profit-gobbling incentives to keep all those plants working.
The 17.5 million sales peak set in 2005 was an “an artificial high,” contends Tom Libby, of data tracking service R.L. Polk.
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Tags: 2012 car sales, 2013 car sales, Carlos Ghosn, Mark Reuss, Sergio Marchionne, U.S. auto sales, auto bailout, auto incentives, auto news, car news, car sales, gm bailout, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, thedetroitbureau, us auto sales peak
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Reuss hopes to bring down price on Chevy Volt plug-in.
by Joseph Szczesny on Jan.17, 2013
GM North American President Mark Reuss during an appearance at the plant producing the Chevrolet Volt.
Despite the slow start-up of sales, “The electric car is not dead,” General Motors President Mark Reuss insists, adding that the maker “couldn’t be happier” with its Chevrolet Volt despite the plug-in hybrid missing its sales target for the second year in a row.
During an appearance at an industry conference coinciding with the North American International Auto Show, Reuss insisted the maker is hoping to take “thousands” out of the cost of the next-generation Volt when it comes to market. Key rival Nissan earlier this week announced plans to introduce a new base version of its own Leaf battery-electric vehicle that will cost $6,000 less than the original model.
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“The electric car is not dead,” proclaimed Reuss, the head of GM’s core North American operations during the Automotive News World Congress, “despite what you might hear, and despite what you might read about Americans not being ready for it, or about it being ‘under attack’ by local governments retracting incentives for it.”
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