Renault is French automaker that, in alliance with the Japanese automaker Nissan, is the fourth largest automaker in the world. The company also owns the Romanian automaker Dacia and the Korean automaker Renault Samsung Motors. It is strong in France, South America, and Africa, while its partner Nissan’s core markets are in Japan, North America, and Southeast Asia. The alliance between Renault and Nissan began in 1999 with each company taking shares in the other company: Renault took a 44% stake in Nissan, and Nissan reciprocated with a 15% share of the French car manufacturer. The alliance has proved very successful for both companies, with each company complementing the strength of the other. Nissan develops gasoline engines, while Renault concentrates …
Tag: Japan
State of the Auto Industry – What Car Makers Are Doing to Survive
Lest you think that America’s automakers are the only ones struggling these days, you’d be missing something that is quite apparent: the global auto industry is in the doldrums with some manufacturers struggling just to survive.
As in any crisis, car companies are figuring out ways to weather the slump, brought on by a worldwide recession that has plunged demand for new vehicles. Excess car capacity needs to be cut in order to realign with demand and there are a number of different ways that automakers are responding to this challenge.
Let’s take a look at some of the key changes being introduced by select automakers in a bid to stem the slide:
Volkswagen: One of the few companies actually …
Carlos Ghosn, the Man Who Turned Around Nissan
The Plan
When in June 1999 he came to Nissan as chief operating officer he was accompanied by a team of thirty French Renault experts. With the aid of a Japanese interpreter (and at the same time trying to learn Japanese) he visited all the Nissan factories worldwide. At the same time Ghosn installed nine Cross Functional Teams to analyze Nissan’s problems. These teams had to present their suggestions within a space of three months.
In October 1999, after the teams had made their analyses and had presented their proposals to the executive committee, Ghosn was able to announce his strategic plan for the revival of Nissan in a public presentation. At the same time this plan was simultaneously announced …
The Nissan & IBM Outsourcing Agreement
Introduction
In the year, prior to the turn of the millennium, Nissan was a company in a serious financial crisis. Debt had approached $22 billion by 1999. The company had been too complacent, and had taken its prior success, for granted [2].
Did Nissan’s decision to outsource their IT Infrastructure to IBM in 1999 make good sense? Nissan was a very troubled auto-manufacturer in the late 1990’s. Senior executives from the company were known for their conservative outlook on business, and their ‘old boy’s network,’ mentality. Profits were dropping dramatically, eventually forcing the company into the $22 Billion debt that it then faced. There were no signs indicating a change in the market that would encourage profit growth. The vehicle …