[wheelguy]

Srivastava, who has over two decades of experience in top two Indian car companies – Maruti Suzuki India and Hyundai Motor India will be taking charge on September 5.

Nissan Motor Corporation, the world's fifth largest auto company has not been able to realise a reasonable position in India in the last over one decade (14 years) of operations. Srivastava has a huge task ahead of him to lift the market share which currently remains below 1.5 per cent. Many industry experts believe that lack of proper leadership has been one of the key reasons behind company’s dismal performance. Now, it has to be seen if the company has finally hit the nail at right point by hiring Srivastava who carries along a reasonably good impression from his last assignment.

In 2018, Srivastava had quit as Director Sales and Marketing at Hyundai India and joined JSW Energy to lead their EV unit but the Indian energy sector major shelved the plans due to lack of clarity in policy and complexity in EV business.

He played a key role in capturing 16 per cent market share for the Korean carmaker. He was instrumental in the launch and success of key products like i10 Grand, Verna, Elite i20 and Creta. Rakesh joined Hyundai India in 2012 as Vice President-Sales after quitting from Maruti Suzuki as Chief General Manager & Commercial Business Head. He worked for Maruti Suzuki for almost 14 years.

Prior to automotive industry, Srivastava has worked in the tobacco and paint industry. He is a Science Graduate from Agra Univesity and holds Marketing & Sales degree from IIM Ahmedabad.

Source: ET Auto

[GTO]

Rakesh Srivastava, IMHO, is an absolute genius! Have met him on occasion and have always been impressed with his craft. He is as good as it can get when it comes to marketing & sales! Dealers love him too.

Wondering why he's joining a loser company like Nissan India though . Definitely Nissan's gain here.

The first thought that came to mind is another ex-Hyundai genius who had joined VW, then headed GM India. Yep, I'm talking about Arvind Saxena whose career didn't end too well.

Wishing Rakesh all the best, but I'm not at all optimistic about Nissan's chances in India. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they shut shop & leave. August 2019 sales were a grand total of 288 cars which is less than some big car dealerships!!

[KARAN.CARGURU]

Nissan had more MDs than product launches


Since 2014, we have seen 8 different MDs (heads) in past 5 years

1.GM Singh(HAI)
2.Ajay Raghuvanshi
3.Arun Malhotra
4.Guillaume Sicard(interim MD)
5.Jerom Saigot
6.Thomas Kuehl
7.Sinan Ozkok
8.Rakesh Srivastava(NOW)

They have lowest turnovers as compared to any OEM i.e approx 68 crores(Excluding GST). Also, poor quality products, poor service and poor quality dealerships(2 shutter 3S facilities) and the Market share is just 0.7%.

Few dealers within a Tier 3 cities associated with other OEM's such as Maruti, Hyundai, Mahindra have better turnovers than that of Nissan(as an OEM).

I believe they are the ENDGAME for INDIA, nobody can save Nissan in India

[SideView]

Hopefully he is able to turn around the fortunes of the company.

Vehicles are very competent but it the after sales/service that needs to be worked on. Hopefully he can bring some “Hyundai” magic.

Not to forget keeping the interest alive with more frequent launches. ( wishful thinking?)

[GTO]

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

He is a car dealer:

I must tell you that people at Nissan are celebrating Diwali and Eid today !

Rakesh's personal brand image is so strong that many competitors have called to congratulate Nissan dealers (including me).

[octane_100]

Does Nissan have any new products in pipeline? If NO then I don't know how ONE appointment can turn things around. The entire portfolio has been a sales dud save for some decent numbers for Redi-Go. Will be interesting to see the way forward.

[RWD]

Originally Posted by GTO

Wondering why he's joining a loser company like Nissan India though .

Had exactly the same thought upon reading the headline. But, being an optimist, I would read that as Nissan's attempt at taking a serious shot at the Indian market, and finally getting themselves out of doldrums that they find themselves in.

Being one of the global leaders in automotive industry, Nissan in India has always been a faint shadow of what they could have been, and what one would expect from a company of this stature. Poor product planning and half hearted attempts would point to a weak leadership. With Mr. Srivastava, one would hope that some bold calls will be taken, to help revive Nissan's fortunes in India. We, the consumers stand to gain if we can have another strong car manufacturer to choose from. Possibly exciting times ahead?! Time will tell.

[kiku007]

May be he's roped in to complete the closure or find ways to exit the market?

Someone needs to bell the cat / state the obvious and cut the losses.

[Sk8r]

Everyday on my way home I see KIA showroom and quiz myself on how a brand new OEM in Indian shores with just one product and an average retail price of 14 - 15 lakhs managed to sell 6000 units in the first month ? The answer is Marketing.

I am not saying Rakesh will be the answer to Nissan's trouble here in India, at least it gives hope for the dying OEM. Let's not forget some of the brilliant cars in their line up; Micra, Sunny both are very well appreciated by folks who own then. And then Kicks which has a huge potential in the current market's love for SUVs

Finally, as automobile lovers it's good for us if there is a healthy spread of options rather than a couple of markets leaders !

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by octane_100

Does Nissan have any new products in pipeline? If NO then I don't know how ONE appointment can turn things around. The entire portfolio has been a sales dud save for some decent numbers for Redi-Go. Will be interesting to see the way forward.

As Sk8r mentioned below, they don't need a slew of models, they need one good car backed up by after sales service.

They are currently lacking on all fronts.

The Kicks is a very good product and deserves to sell more than what it is doing right now. I think someone even mentioned that after Kia showroom they walked into Nissan showroom and overall the Kicks felt a better built and engineered product than the Kia.

When Kia and MG can sell 6000 - 2000 cars respectively, Nissan can easily can do the same.

They need to bring out modern engines, automatic (NOT AMT!). Improve on service and dealer experience.

In our SUV crazy market the Kicks is all that a company needs to sell decent numbers.

Originally Posted by Sk8r

Everyday on my way home I see KIA showroom and quiz myself on how a brand new OEM in Indian shores with just one product and an average retail price of 14 - 15 lakhs managed to sell 6000 units in the first month ? The answer is Marketing.

[tarik.arora]

While i personally believe that this may not be a good step from Rakesh Srivastava but the JSW project that he joined post Hyundai has been shelved. I think he had limited options.

Regarding Nissan's future in India, i am not very optimistic but all is not over. Datsun is working on some aspirational products for the Indian market. On top, Nissan will also focus on EVs as they are the future. Nissan has some very good Global products but they never made it to our shores. Someone as strong as Rakesh can shake the Global management for new products and investments. I think this is Nissan's last bet for our market and inducting Rakesh has given them a couple of more years.

[octane_100]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

The Kicks is a very good product and deserves to sell more than what it is doing right now.

Agree in toto that Kicks is a competent product. However, its sales has been like the Reliance Power stock, going continuously downhill since listing. The brand itself is in a disarray having fallen out of the consideration set of a majority of people. It is tough to build excitement back in to a product which has fizzled out, hence my wondering.

Improvement in service will help, but for people to experience it they should buy the product first

[TorqueKnight]

Man that's not just a surprise but I say I was shocked to hear that. Nissan dealer in my hometown already shut the shop and many people were expecting Nissan India may leave India any time soon. Rakesh's decision to join Nissan shows that he has a daredevil attitude and want to challenge the challenges. I do not have optimism for Nissan but I have optimism for Mr.Rakesh and his experience. Until his appointment I never thought Nissan was serious about India (With poor Product Portfolio). Good Luck to Mr.Rakesh and Nissan.

[mug:mush]

What Nissan needs immediately is a fresh infusion of world class products. A halo car and a well priced one such as Leaf, a global hatchback such as the new Micra, an SUV such as Rogue or Pathfinder. An immediate focus on powertrains such as Hybrids. Without a quality product or technology, Rakesh is also a lost cause.

[PetrolRider]

The BIG question here, will Nissan give enough bandwidth and independence to Mr. Srivastava to bring on changes as per his liking?
Let's not forget, Japanese brands in general are not very open to changes and prefer traditional function of business and are known for micro management.
As a former Nissan car owner, I would like to see good growth for this company.