Nissan told retailers this week it expects revived product and marketing to propel U.S. sales more than 20 percent in fiscal 2024.”The message is the car is the star,” said a retailer who attended one of three regional meetings in Orlando, Fla., Boston and Dallas. Nissan is “looking at product driving them out of the woods,” said the dealer, one of several interviewed who requested not to be identified discussing the content of the internal meetings.They said executives shared details of the redesigned Murano crossover and Armada SUV scheduled to arrive in December.The next-gen Murano, described by one dealer as more luxurious than sporty, will ride on a revised version of Nissan’s D platform. Powered by a four-cylinder turbo engine, the new model ditches Nissan’s finicky continuously variable transmission for a nine-speed automatic. The new Murano adopts Nissan’s updated grille and has a wide Porsche-like rear. A retailer described the large crossover as resembling the Acura MDX.Nissan will lean in on luxury with the next version of its flagship Armada SUV. The model will be bigger with redesigned headlights and taillights. An all-new interior will include upgraded finishes and large screens.”It’s going to have a ton of technology,” a dealer said, noting the SUV will feature a turbocharged six-cylinder.In the third quarter, Nissan will bring a sporty Rogue trim to market. A dealer described the Rogue Rock Creek Edition as a lifted version of the compact crossover sporting off-road tires and a big roof rack. The retailer said Nissan will chase Honda Passport buyers with the Rogue variant”It’s a great move because we need a masculine kind of product,” he said. “But it’s a populated segment for us with all of the configurations the Rogue already has.”Nissan’s mostly gasoline-powered lineup will diversify later in the decade as the automaker brings e-power serial hybrid and plug-in hybrid technology to the U.S.At the meeting, execs talked up Nissan’s recently announced partnerships with Honda and Nissan’s alliance partner Mitsubishi Motors to bring new powertrain technologies to market faster.”They promised we will have something for all people,” a dealer said.The product push will be fueled by a renewed marketing effort that moves on from Nissan’s celebrity-driven advertising. New commercials will emphasize vehicle features and design and the dealership experience. The new direction is “well overdue,” a retailer said. “We haven’t talked product in ages.”Nissan spokesperson Brian Brockman said the brand is in a “strong position” to grow retail sales. “We have the refreshed 2024 Rogue and Sentra in showrooms today, an all-new Kicks, Armada and Murano on the way …. and increased investments in marketing and customer experience to drive broader consideration and throughput,” Brockman said./cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js
Nissan aims to end fiscal year 2024 with a 6.2 percent retail market share, executives told dealers. The Japanese brand had a 5 percent share at the end of fiscal 2023, which ended March 31, 2024.Profitability was another focus of the meetings with a dealer referring to it being a “catchphrase” in every presentation.”Nobody is making money with this franchise right now,” the dealer said. “Nissan’s solution is the new product coming.”But retailers said tomorrow’s product doesn’t address the oversupply they have.Nissan’s days’ supply of inventory, which includes vehicles en route to dealers, hovered at 106 days at the end of last year — 50 percent higher than the national average of 70 days. The supply dropped to 98 days in early April, according to Cox Automotive, but Nissan continues to have the highest inventory of any full-line automaker.”New product only increases the inventory,” a dealer said. “I already have a plethora of cars in stock. I need someone to tell me what we’re going to do tomorrow.”At the meetings, dealers pressed execs on the lack of aggressive incentives, which they said are required in a competitive market. But management made it clear that Nissan doesn’t intend to return to the pre-pandemic days of heavy discounting that hurt brand equity. “Their mentality is that they’ve learned their lesson,” a dealer said. “But I don’t know how you [achieve market share] without doing something outside of the box.”
Dealers said they want to hear more details of how Nissan plans to drive throughput and profitability.”They said ‘Here’s our plan.’ But they didn’t go into a lot of detail on how they are going to execute that plan,” a retailer said.
But dealers said they walked away impressed with Nissan’s newly minted U.S. sales and marketing boss, Vinay Shahani. The executive worked at Nissan for a decade in the early 2000s before stints at Volkswagen, Toyota and Lexus. According to those in the meetings, Shahani told dealers that Nissan’s “fun, rebellious and edgy” image first drew him to the brand. He emphasized Nissan must work harder to improve its brand reputation and consumer consideration.”Nissan has a lot of good models, but the brand doesn’t meet the product,” a dealer said. “Many consumers aren’t considering a Nissan model because of the badge on the front.” Nissan is committed to making the brand stronger, a retailer said, adding: “2024 is going to be one of our best years, yet ” Shahani also promised to make Nissan a more dealer-friendly company focused on “making good decisions on dealer profitability,” another retailer said.”[Shahani] “realizes that the connection between the factory and the dealer needs to be simplified,” the dealer said. “He knows he’s walking into a very adversarial situation.”
Source: autonews.com