2012 Nissan Armada Sv 5.6l 8 Pass Cruise Ctrl 18's 12k Texas Direct Auto on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Nissan helping Mexican dealers crack US market

Nissan may not be the top seller or even the top import brand in the United States... but it is in Mexico. South of the border, Nissan accounted for over 26 percent of new cars sold last year, and it's not only applying some of the same lessons it learned on its way to the top of Mexican market to the US – it's bringing in some of the same dealers. In an effort to increase its market share particularly in southern states with large Hispanic communities like California and Texas, Nissan is helping some of its largest dealer groups in Mexico buy up American dealerships, according to a report from Automotive News. Among those Nissan dealers in Mexico expanding into the US market are Grupo Autofin Mexico (which owns 60 locations, including three Nissan dealers in Orange Country), Grupo Autocom (which controls 17 Nissan, Infiniti and Renault locations in Mexico and now owns one Infiniti and four Nissan dealers in the San Francisco bay area) and Automotores Soni SA de CV (one of Mexico's largest dealer groups which recently took over two locations in Houston). Aside from encouraging these and other Mexican dealer groups – many of which have longstanding ties to the Renault-Nissan Alliance and its brands – to break into the US market, Nissan has been using its right of first refusal to offer dealerships going up for sale in the US to its Mexican dealers before American ones. There has yet to be any outcry from Nissan dealers in the US, though. The effort, lead by Nissan's North American chief Jose Munoz (who used to run the Mexican division), is part of the company's drive to increase its market share in the US from 7.7 percent currently to 10 percent by 2017. And the know-how of these Mexican dealership groups forms part of that strategy. But Nissan hopes to tap more than just their experience to drive an increase in sales. The Japanese automaker is also targeting the Hispanic market within the United States, offering Spanish-speaking Americans service in their own language with the benefit of a common cultural background. According to AN, Nissan has already surpassed Honda to become the No. 2 import brand among Hispanic customers in America, accounting for some 32 percent of the company's growth last year. News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: Nissan Nissan Car Dealers Mexico

Spitballs flying between Nissan and Fiat

At the 2012 LA Auto Show, Fiat brand chief and recently crowned marketing genius, Olivier François, attempted to distance the Fiat 500e from other electric vehicles, asking rhetorically, "Isn't ugliness the worst kind of pollution?" Nissan has apparently taken issue with these comments, feeling slighted for what it considers digs at the Leaf's styling. In a recent interview with Automotive News, Nissan's marketing chief Simon Sproule shot back, "Let's face it, Fiat has not shied away from controversial styling themselves," he continued, "many would describe many of their products as visual pollution." Ouch.
Sproule says that while the 500e is a "me-too" product, made only to appease US emissions regulations, the Leaf is a serious effort at producing an EV. The Nissan marketing boss points out that the Japanese automaker has invested billions in EV development and production facilities, while Fiat will lose $10,000 on every 500e sold.
However sales of the Leaf in the US are down five percent. Nissan sold just 8,330 Leaf's so far this year, but Sproule contends that it has less to do with styling, and more with the charging infrastructure. Sproule also thinks that Nissan hit a balance between styling and practicality with the Leaf: "It's still very recognizable as a five-seat hatchback, fully functioning, absolutely competitive with the packaging of the Golf of any other mainstream vehicle." For a segment where efficiency is king, isn't that what matters most?

Nissan's Kelly examined at Japanese hospital after securing bail

TOKYO — Nissan director Greg Kelly was being examined in a hospital on Wednesday, a source said, a day after he was released on bail from a Tokyo jail where his former boss Carlos Ghosn is still being detained. Kelly, an American who was released late on Christmas Day after more than a month in detention, has been charged with conspiring to under-report Ghosn's income. He posted bail of 70 million yen ($640,000). Their Nov. 19 arrests jolted the global car industry and has strained Nissan's alliance with French car maker Renault SA. Nissan's board last month fired Ghosn as chairman and Kelly as representative director, although both men technically still remain board members who can only be removed by shareholders. Kelly suffers from spinal stenosis, causing numbness, tingling and shooting pain in his extremities, according to a video message last week from his wife, Dee Kelly, appealing for his release. The condition compresses or pinches the spinal cord. Those symptoms worsened during his five weeks in the Tokyo Detention Center, his wife said, citing Kelly's lawyer. Kelly was scheduled to have surgery on Dec. 7 in Nashville, Tennessee, but flew to Japan last month after being told that he was needed in person at a board meeting, Dee Kelly said in the video. Kelly was arrested soon after his arrival. Under the conditions of his bail, Kelly is barred from traveling overseas and his residence must be restricted to a designated place, the Tokyo District Court said. Lawyers say that travel exceptions can be made on a case-by-case basis. Kelly walked out of the detention center around 10:45 pm (1345 GMT) Thursday night wearing a light-colored jacket and was whisked away in a black taxi. Japanese media showed footage of Kelly entering a hospital around midnight. After his release from detention, Kelly issued a statement through his lawyer saying he had not falsified any documents and looked forward to restoring his honor in court. "I believe my innocence will be revealed in the trial," he said. Kelly also said in the statement he wanted to see a doctor immediately and get the appropriate treatment or operation originally scheduled for early December. The office of his lawyer, Yoichi Kitamura, did not respond to requests for comment. Ghosn was re-arrested on Friday based on suspicions that around October 2008 he shifted personal trades to Nissan to make it responsible for 1.85 billion yen ($16.6 million) in appraisal losses, prosecutors said.