In a direct homage to Glorious Communist Plans of Stalin and Mao, Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn has announced his employer's latest five-year plan. The New York Times reveals the catchy name: GT 2012 (G for Growth, T for Trust). Trust? "In our industry, the companies that are performing best are the ones that have established a high level of trust with the different stakeholders.” So no American Axle, Plastech troubles for them, then. Anyway, amongst Carlos' goals: improved quality control, expansion of the Infiniti lineup into Europe, mo' and mo' better entry level cars , increased sales in the BRIC and Middle East, and something about profit (per-share dividend of 42 yen for '09'10, the rest TBA). Oh, and electric vehicles in the U.S. market within two years (yes 2010) and globally ever after. Just remember: they chose to do it. "Nissan decided to accelerate development of battery-powered vehicles because of high gasoline prices and environmental concerns, not just because of the need to meet stricter fuel-economy standards." The conflict being? And in a dig at another electric vehicle, Carlos proclaims "We're not interested in some Stars Wars prototype." Tough talk for a man who says "“We’re talking about hundreds of [electric] vehicles first."
6 Comments on “Renault/Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn has a Plan! Again!...”
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Considering this is a man whose “great” ideas of late has been to relocate Nissan’s design team from California to Tennessee and losing a load of talent in the process AND to rubbish hybrids as a “fad” and that he felt “smug” that they weren’t selling too well (despite sales figures rocketing and still climbing proving him wrong) I’ll take his new plan with a pinch of salt.
Mind you, he might want to accelerate his plan a little due to this crumb of news…..
I would definitely consider a suitably useable electric Nissan for my commute here in Michigan if Nissan is smart enough to price it where I could afford it.
The Prius would remain in the fleet. I don’t know what we’d do for towing our little pop-up, but I suppose we could swap our Prius with a buddy’s Honda CRV on weekends we want to camp.
Alternately, I could get an older Mercedes diesel car for $3000-4000 and tow with it/take it to classic car shows occasionally.
Hybrids ARE a fad, so yes I agree with Mr Ghosn. A good diesel gets better fuel economy and is simpler. And now they’re cleaner than ever. Just ask the europeans.
Uh I forgot, diesels are not fancy or fashionable, oh well…
Diesels aren’t cleaner than a hybrid and they certainly aren’t a fad.
Compare a Volkswagen Polo Bluemotion to a 2004 Toyota Prius and the Prius (pound for pound) is the far superior option.
Oh Yes Hybrids. I’m eagerly waiting for Land cruiser HYBRID. The diesel option we get is no good. Please Toyota
@KatiePuckrick – Nissan just moved their headquarters, not their design/engineering centers.
@Stingray – Diesels are cleaner now than diesels of the past, but they’re NOT as clean as a modern gasoline car. Making matters worse, Diesel fuel is a whopping 35% more per gallon here, and its price has escalated FASTER than gasoline.