[Astraholic]

Slightly off topic, I gave my Nissan Teana for service today. The ignition coil of cylinder 1 was misfiring and the service guy tried rotating it but the issue persisted. As Teana is a rare car, service centre did not have the part in stock. Understandable. But the service adviser inform me that the coil can only be ordered after April 10th as the Chennai factory is shut down for maintenance. Only after that he can inform me of the availability. My question is what has procurement of spare parts got to do with manufacturing plant shutdown? It's anyway not made there. In effect my daily driver car is going to be in Nissan service centre for the next 10-15 days atleast.There were 2 X-Trails in the service centre along with my car stuck in the same situation. The only positive side was that the service adviser and the mechanic who worker on the car was very cooperative and was taking good care of the car. And as there were less number of cars in the service centre, they gave proper attention too! There is always a silver lining i guess Lastly, did not find EVM group in the dealers petition(or did I miss them in the list?). They run 4 major dealerships and 13 experience centres in Kerala. Probably the biggest Nissan dealership network in the country.

[Gildarts]

KIA is definitely a risk worth taking for dealers of brands like NISSAN, and FIAT. Given KIA's track record abroad, KIA will most probably be a jackpot compared to NISSAN and FIAT.

[redbaron91]

Originally Posted by Astraholic

Slightly off topic, I gave my Nissan Teana for service today. The ignition coil of cylinder 1 was misfiring and the service guy tried rotating it but the issue persisted. As Teana is a rare car, service centre did not have the part in stock. Understandable. But the service adviser inform me that the coil can only be ordered after April 10th as the Chennai factory is shut down for maintenance. Only after that he can inform me of the availability. My question is what has procurement of spare parts got to do with manufacturing plant shutdown? It's anyway not made there. In effect my daily driver car is going to be in Nissan service centre for the next 10-15 days atleast.There were 2 X-Trails in the service centre along with my car stuck in the same situation. The only positive side was that the service adviser and the mechanic who worker on the car was very cooperative and was taking good care of the car. And as there were less number of cars in the service centre, they gave proper attention too! There is always a silver lining i guess Lastly, did not find EVM group in the dealers petition(or did I miss them in the list?). They run 4 major dealerships and 13 experience centres in Kerala. Probably the biggest Nissan dealership network in the country.

AFAIK, plant shut down is in May for a week's time. And part ordering for after sales usually happens via dealers.

[Carpainter]

If Nissan was serious about India, they really had many cars in their stable that would have been success here. Specially Leaf would have been a hit here if India really goes electric way in foreseeable future. I think apart from Suzuki and Honda, no other Japanese manufacturer is too serious about India and that includes Toyota. I still miss the Mitsubishi Lancer and Evo. Same about Pajero and Outlander. So Nissan is not the only one and I think they will exit within next few years.

[highonwheelz]

This is just to clear out misconceptions about a few options listed above about the option that the dealers have to switch to other brands. Just as with any other industry, a bigger company like Maruti and Hyundai will not be too happy about awarding dealerships to Nissan dealers, simply because they have not seen the kind of volumes which dealers for the bigger companies see. Also, the cost of setting up and operating a Nissan dealership will be a fraction of what it would cost to set up and operate a bigger Japanese/Korean dealership.

Not to mention, that it will be a while till Kia actually sells their first car in India, and the dealers might not have the financial wherewithal to hold on to prime real estate until that time.

[fazayal]

Originally Posted by blackwasp

Many car manufacturers will not allow multiple car brands under the same ownership. I know for a fact that MSIL won't allow their dealers to hold other car dealerships. There are other brands that do allow, at times either across different states or different segments e.g. a Fiat dealership and a Mercedes

As per competition commission guidelines no car manufacturer can force dealer to not have dealership of other brand. Many Maruti dealers have dealerships of other competing brands as well. What you are stating is a myth.

[ToyotaFan]

I was thinking of getting the new Redigo 1L AMT as a city run about in Meerut. The car will hardly ever see the highway with the maximum being the 70km drive to Delhi (occasionally 2-3 times/year). I wanted a cheap easy to drive car that would replace our 2004 Wagon R. Anything big or flashy is a waste considering the traffic here and we already have the fortuner for other needs. Redigo seems to be a good bet and we have a dealer locally as well. This dealership situation is giving me second thoughts considering I keep my cars long (atleast 10 years) and don't want to end up with another Daewoo Matiz with parts being difficult to procure. Considering how GM exited India last year is there any chance of Nissan leaving India in which case I think I should give this car a miss.

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by fazayal

As per competition commission guidelines no car manufacturer can force dealer to not have dealership of other brand. Many Maruti dealers have dealerships of other competing brands as well. What you are stating is a myth.

Yes, I agree about the rules. But the reality is quite different. No one will openly say it, but the dealers are made to understand about it. There may not be a written agreement, but such things do exist.

Without divulging any names, it can be found out that families owning MSIL and other dealerships will register two companies with different set of relatives as their directors / shareholders and separately apply to be the dealerships for different brands. There might be an exception or two, but for the vast majority, its not allowed.

[tusharsethi]

According to a source in a nearby dealership, the signature sheet was some sort of attendance for a meeting else the signatures would be on the letter and not on separate sheets. This dealer seems pretty happy with Nissan and are contemplating actions against these dealers themselves as they're creating a negative image for the brand they sell.

[fazayal]

Originally Posted by blackwasp

Yes, I agree about the rules. But the reality is quite different. No one will openly say it, but the dealers are made to understand about it. There may not be a written agreement, but such things do exist.

Without divulging any names, it can be found out that families owning MSIL and other dealerships will register two companies with different set of relatives as their directors / shareholders and separately apply to be the dealerships for different brands. There might be an exception or two, but for the vast majority, its not allowed.

Companies are off course different but there are common directors/shareholders of different brands. Off course companies like Maruti don't like it but they can't do anything legally.

[Lalvaz]

Originally Posted by tusharsethi

From what I’ve learnt, this is motivated by some of the terminated dealers of Nissan who haven’t sold a single car in many months and their customers are actually highly dissatisfied.

If a dealer invests a huge amount in setting up a dealership, why would he not want to sell the cars? If what you say is true about the dealers not selling a single car in many months, its more a failure of Nissan than of the dealer. Or are you implying that the sales of Nissan are skyrocketing, except for these disgruntled dealers who haven't sold a single car for some ulterior motive?

IMO, Nissan needs to decide whether it wants to be operating in India as a leader or just following the herd.

[GTO]

Thanks to a Team-BHP Fan (and an ex-Nissan dealer who prefers to stay anonymous) for sending this information in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing it with other enthusiasts via this Team-BHP page!

I am an ex-Nissan Dealer & currently have other brand dealerships.

The major highlight is in Feb 2019 - Nissan India has just sold 774 cars from the portfolio, even after a newly launched product i.e Nissan Kicks. Never seen such a disastrous response after a new product launch in the automobile industry with any OEM. Most of the dealers from North India have taken KIA dealerships and now, they have started liquidating their stocks to close down their Nissan dealerships. Few dealers are ready to sell their stock of Nissan Kicks with discount of approx Rs. 60000/- (ready to give up their margins of approx 40000 plus 20000 additional) just to liquidate their stocks. Some of them have shifted their dealership setups into tiny shops. Even Nissan India management's favourite dealer is about to shift from a ground floor setup to the first floor as he'll be giving his ground floor setup to MG Motors.

In fact, Nissan India has launched a "phoenix project" in which the dealer development has allowed to open tiny setups costing less than 50 lakhs!

Please find attached the Feb 2019 sales figures and also pictures of Shiva Nissan's small setup in Bilaspur.

[drmohitg]

Wow. This should certainly qualify as one of those case files which needs to be discussed in business schools. A company which had a solid reputation which was further accentuated by the common Japanese DNA that the company shared with Toyota - a brand that is revered by Indians. Most people had a positive impression of the brand when it had come into India.

The Nissan Sunny with its catchy "CAaarr" advertisements coupled with the brand perception ensured that people visit the showrooms. How one can fail with a product like Sunny in the Indian car market is yet another point of discussion. This car was just perfect. I remember at the time we were deciding between the Sunny and the Vento for my father who was primarily chauffeured. And Vento, with all its European heritage, simply was no match was the space the Sunny offered. More over it was fairly well kitted too with most things standard like airbags and ABS. And did I mention the space inside? It was simple massive! Add to it a really punchy engine specially in that 20-60 kms speed bracket, speeds that you are likely to see in the city. It used to feel like a mini-rocket. And finally the price. IIRC, it was priced in between the compact sedans and the c segment cars like the Vento and City.

Only thing Nissan needed to manage better was its after sales service and vehicle QC. It was a disaster. Never before, have I had to visit 4 different dealers in as many years in Delhi, simple because the previous one had shut shop. Even then the service centre could never figure out recurring AC problems in my car. The starter motor and shockers needed replacement under warranty. The 6 months/10k km service interval ( which only suits cab drivers and not private buyers) ensured that the cost of servicing increases and more painful was the fact that you had to search for a Nissan dealership each time as the previous one was usually no where to be found on Google!

All in all, a competent company with a competent product simply lost out due to its bad dealer and after sales policies. And once you lose the trust, there is no coming back from it.

[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by GTO

Thanks to [b]a Team-BHP Fan(and an ex-Nissan dealer who prefers to stay anonymous) for sending this information in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing it with other enthusiasts

Interesting, I've always said that being a car manufacturer is a nightmare of a job in any country, and the same is true or much more true in India. You need to lay out for the capital & the marketing, constantly reminding the people that you are here and you want to sell. Nissan never did that, nor did GM or Fiat. GM and Fiat are done with India, going by the events above, Nissan will soon follow in their footsteps.

More dealers, more service centers would require more sales, more sales would require more marketing and better products (faster updating), Nissan never did that, they are basically running the same versions of Micra and Sunny for over a decade now (minor face-lifts notwithstanding). Now even the Kicks which seems to have all those issues sorted with new and better interiors and exteriors, good ride quality etc will not find buyers simply because Nissan has been forgotten, not to mention that Kicks is being sold with purely manual transmissions in an era where automatic is quickly gaining popularity.

No way Nissan can survive with one product, and 2 other ancient cars which are only finding buyers among cabbies despite massive discounts.They will exit the scene by 2020, specially after KIA enters the market in a big way this year (their SP Concept with a massive list of tech and all-new contemporary design will most certainly kill the Kicks, and eat into Creta and S-Cross heavily).

[voldemort]

Originally Posted by blackwasp

Many car manufacturers will not allow multiple car brands under the same ownership. I know for a fact that MSIL won't allow their dealers to hold other car dealerships. There are other brands that do allow, at times either across different states or different segments e.g. a Fiat dealership and a Mercedes dealership.

Originally Posted by Astraholic

Lastly, did not find EVM group in the dealers petition(or did I miss them in the list?). They run 4 major dealerships and 13 experience centres in Kerala. Probably the biggest Nissan dealership network in the country.

I doubt if dealers are restricted to just 1 brand. To my knowledge, EVM Group in Cochin runs the dealerships of:

• Nissan/Datsun
• BMW
• Volkswagen
• Honda bikes

In addition to that, I have reasons to believe EVM also runs a Renault dealership.

OT: There were a surprising number (about 30 or so) of Porsches at EVM Volkswagen. On enquiring, we were told that Porsche cars are serviced there. I peeped in to the service area and couldn't find any VWs in there, atleast on first glance. Does EVM also run the Porsche dealership in Cochin?