[BeingHuman]

Nissan can stay relevant only if they bring in high quality products like the Leaf or Juke, let it be in a CKD route. They really have no advantage selling in the mass market lower priced re-badged products.

[McLaren Rulez]

I suspect that local market performance is not as important as is made out. Nissan has a factory here, they are globally quite successful and exports bring home the money. As long as that factory survives, the company always has the ability to turn things around locally. They just need one killer product.

[Sheel]

I am going to watch, how is the new MD going to play his cards. While, I have heard of him, it remains to be seen, whether, his suggestions would be taken up by Nissan and whether Mr. Rakesh and Nissan have a agreement on decisions/suggestions.

As far as dealership and service centers go, despite having a head-start, they have fallen back, lots of dealers have given up and it will take some time & trust from car buying populace if they launch competent products and support it ably.

[VJ05]

There's no point for Nissan to continue in the country. Micra and Sunny are decade old, Terrano lived in the shadow of Duster and I'm not sure it's discontinued already, Kick is already a flop. Unless they bring out some great product from their global lineup and market them like Hector, Seltos they don't have any chance to survive.

I fail to understand how global auto giants like GM, FCA and Nissan failed to understand the pulse of Indian Market. Agree that our market is complex however, there are brands who have tasted sucess from nowhere. Some classic examples are Renault with Duster, Kwid and Triber (it's a VFM product and should taste success), Jeep with Compass, Kia with Seltos and MG with Hector. So there's a set template to follow for struggling car makers. All that is needed is WILL to take risk and succed, if that's not there than better to pack the bags home rather than wasting money in unforgiving market like ours.

[reppy]

I hope, really hope that they launch Infiniti in India - go up rather than looking left, right and down.

I have not seen one Infiniti car till date that is not desirable!

Price it right, undercutting Audi and I feel Nissan will be on a roll - as there as no quality concerns with the product/brand itself!

[blackasta]

Nissan's first mistake was appointing Hover as it's national sales intermediary and not having direct control on it's dealers.

Nissan's second mistake was having a mirror image of products with Renault - A Pulse for a Micra, a Sunny for a Scala, a Terrano for a Duster and so on. The brands should have complemented each other, not fought for the share of the same pie.

Nissan's first mistake gave rise the third mistake - incompetent dealerships with no command or control from Nissan India.

Their final mistake I feel was bringing in Datsun as a separate 'cheap' brand - The Go, Go+ and RediGo should not have been cheap made for India products as a band aid measure for 3rd world markets. Does Nissan even sell these models anywhere else?
Your main brand is in disarray, no one aspires for it, and you bring in another cheap brand to set things straight? which B schools teaches that?

[V.Narayan]

When a great management team is married to a flawed business model and product suite the flawed business model usually wins. R.I.P. Nissan.

[invidious]

Lest we forget they have some absolute duds in Datsun. I had the misfortune of sitting in one when I hailed an Uber. There was a constant crackling sound emanating from the CNG kit and the rear seat offered no comfort at all.

When they launched the Micra and the Sunny, they were decent products. In fact, the Micra was like a better version of the Swift. And if you had a chauffeur, Sunny had no comfort and leg space competiton in that price range. Wonder why they didn't bother to keep pace with updated models.

[sureshkishore]

Nissan Micra i honestly feel is a model that has aged well over the last decade. It doesn't look as dated as it's contemporaries. We have a Top End Petrol CVT in the family and it looks nice and drives well.
Kicks petrol is also a nice product I would prefer it over the creta anyday.

But dealership experience has been very poor for each nissan owner that I have come across. The forum also has more than a few bad experiences shared as well.
I would strongly suggest Nissan to develop a good 7 seater against the innova and also focus on marketing the Kicks.
Datsun brand I feel should be scrapped, I feel Datsun has tarnished the Nissan brand further.

[Sebring]

Agree with you on all points. Nissan is my favourite brand but the way they are operating in India is passionless. Closest 7 seater I can think of and which is headed to India is the Terra. But looks nothing like the Innova. My brother owns the Micra CVT and is the best deal on four wheels, if one is looking at an automatic. Probably it will get passed on to me, since he is relocating. Datsun is a 70s brand and resonates with the elderly. What was the need to develop this brand and position it right at the bottom (like a greenfield)? Even if they called it ECO, it would have achieved the same results. That way MG has been sharp in utilizing a brand name. Albeit, deceptive.

Originally Posted by sureshkishore

We have a Top End Petrol CVT in the family and it looks nice and drives well.dealership experience has been very poor for each nissan owner that I have come across.

[sumeethaldankar]

I saw the Kicks the other day and it seems to be a decent option for a crossover. I wonder why the sales are not picking up, maybe Nissan is not marketing it properly.

Given the success of the Creta and the recently launched Seltos the Kicks should have been a winner. Nissan is not doing something right and I hope the new guy figures that out and gets it back on track. I really don't want to see a manufacturer exit the market like GM etc since more the competition better the products we get.

Nissan needs to do lot of soul searching and push forward in India. It's sad to see a Japanese company floundering in a market where other Japanese cars have succeeded.

[SideView]

My views on the current nissan predicament:

Was it due to marketing failure?
>>No, they had marketed using cricket and that too as official world cup partner. Everyone knows about nissan but noone is willing to take a risk.

Are the vehicles that bad?
>>No, i feel the vehicles are robust and well made.

Maintenance at ASC
>> if you not careful they will try to fleece you. Spares are expensive.

The whole point why nissan is in such situation hardly any of existing customers would recommend nissan to others/family members. They are not doing anything to improve brand loyalty.

[octane_100]

I just realised that we still don't have an official review of Kicks on our forum. Mods, is it in the pipeline?

[motorworks]

I have said this earlier as well, Nissan not doing well in India is purely due to its product portfolio which did not have any strong USP. Suzuki has taken the positioning of Cheap, fairly reliable, easy to own cars. Hyundai has taken the stand of a slightly premium brand than that of Suzuki with better interiors and better build as well. And then there are Mahindra and Tata who stand for SUVs and MUVs, although Tata made the shift to compact cars thru the Tiago very well.
And you have the other niche players, Ford has always had its followers for its handling and sporty nature, and because of that they are still able to sell cars. And VW and Skoda, how much ever we hate them for certain aspects like servicing, we also love them for their build and quality levels. As an ex-Rapid owner, I can say that the car is still one of the best, in spite of a lot of issues I experienced.

And even Renault has managed to differentiate itself thru the Kwid, Triber, and the Duster.

So there you go, unlike any of the manufacturers above, Nissan did not manage to differentiate itself in its product offering.

[fhdowntheline]

Interesting points , i guess most Nissan cars at least abroad in the past have enjoyed the bittersweet reputation of being boringly reliable. I personally never had any issues of quality, reliability or service with my Micra. But yet I sold it in favour of the Polo GT TSI.