Company Perspectives
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company Perspectives: Nissan's challenge is to enhance its corporate value and to build a corporate foundation that will enable the company to win out in the competitive environment of the 21st century. The management team is also keenly aware of its responsibility to meet the expectations of shareholders by reinstating dividend payments as soon as possible. We will do our utmost to achieve a new corporate consciousness and to implement sweeping improvements in our corporate structure. We look forward to the continuing support and guidance of our shareholders as we strive to attain these goals. Key Dates: 1911 : Masujiro Hashimoto founds the Kwaishinsha Motor car Works in Tokyo. 1914 : Hashimoto introduces his first car, the DAT. 1918 : The Datson model is first produced. 1932 : The Datson brand is changed to Datsun. 1933 : The manufacturing and sale of Datsun cars is taken over by the Jidosha Seizo company, Ltd. 1934 : Jidosha Seizo changes its name to Nissan Motor co., Ltd. Early 1940s:During World War II, the company makes military trucks and engines for airplanes and torpedo boats. 1951 : Nissan becomes a publicly traded company. 1952 : Nissan enters into a license agreement with U.K.-based Austin Motor company Ltd. 1958 : Export of cars to the U.S. market begins. 1966 : The company merges with Prince Motor company Ltd. 1981 : The company begins changing its name from Datsun to Nissan in the U.S. market. 1989 : The Infiniti line of luxury automobiles is introduced. 1992 : The company posts the first pretax loss in its history as a public company; Nissan introduces the Altima small luxury sedan and the Quest minivan, the latter a joint development with Ford Motor company. 1994 : Nissan posts a loss of nearly US$2 billion. 1999 : Nissan and Renault S.A. enter into a global alliance, with Renault taking a 37 percent stake in Nissan. A massive restructuring begins. company History: Established in 1933, Nissan Motor co., Ltd. was a pioneer in the manufacturing of automobiles. Nearly 70 years later, Nissan has become one of the world's leading automakers, with annual production of 2.4 million units, which represented 4.9 percent of the global market. Domestically, the company sells 774,000 vehicles on an annual basis, placing it second behind Toyota Motor corporation. About 35 percent of Nissan's vehicles are sold in Japan, 25 percent in the United States, and 20 percent in Europe. In the North American market, the company's top models include the Infiniti, Maxima, Altima, and Sentra passenger cars, the Quest minivan, the Frontier pickup truck, and the Pathfinder sport utility vehicle. After losing money for most of the 1990s, Nissan entered into a global alliance with Renault S.A. in March 1999, with the French company taking a 37 percent stake in Nissan. A massive restructuring was then launched. Early History In 1911 Masujiro Hashimoto, a U.S.-trained engineer, founded the Kwaishinsha Motor car Works in Tokyo. Hashimoto dreamed of building the first Japanese automobile, but lacked the capital. In order for his dream to come true, he contacted three men--Kenjiro Den, Rokuro Auyama, and Keitaro Takeuchi--for financial support. To acknowledge their contribution to his project, Hashimoto named his car DAT, after their last initials. In Japanese, 'dat' means 'escaping rabbit' or 'running very fast.' Debuting in 1914, the first DAT was marketed and sold as a ten horsepower runabout. Another version, referred to as 'datson' or 'son of dat,' was a two-seater sports car produced in 1918. One year later, Jitsuyo Jidosha Seizo company, another Nissan predecessor, was founded in Osaka. Kwaishinsha and Jitsuyo Jidosha Seizo combined in 1926 to establish the Dat Jidosha Seizo company. Five years later, the Tobata Imaon company, an automotive parts manufacturer, purchased controlling interest in the company. Tobata Imaon's objective was to mass-produce products that would be competitive in quality and price with foreign automobiles. In 1932, 'Datson' became 'Datsun,' thus associating it with the ancient Japanese sun symbol. The manufacturing and sale of Datsun cars was taken over in 1933 by the Jidosha Seizo company, Ltd., which was established in Yokohama that year through a joint venture between Nihon Sangyo company and Tobata Imaon. In 1934 the company changed its name to Nissan Motor co., Ltd., and one year later the operation of Nissan's first integrated automobile factory began in Yokohama under the technical guidance of American industrial engineers. Datsun cars, however, were not selling as well as expected in Japan. Major U.S. automobile manufacturers, such as General Motors corporation (GM) and the Ford Motor company, had established assembly plants in Japan during this time. These companies dominated the automobile market in Japan for ten years, while foreign companies were discouraged from exporting to the United States by the Great Depression of 1929. With the advent of World War II in 1941, Nissan's efforts were directed toward military production. During wartime, the Japanese government ordered the motor industry to halt production of passenger cars and, instead, to produce much needed trucks. Nissan also produced engines for airplanes and torpedo boats. Postwar Recovery and Overseas Expansion After World War II, the Japanese auto industry had to be completely recreated. Technical assistance contracts were established with foreign firms such as Renault, Hillman, and Willys-Overland. In 1952 Nissan reached a license agreement with the United Kingdom's Austin Motor company Ltd. With American technical assistance and improved steel and parts from Japan, Nissan became capable of producing small, efficient cars, which later provided the company with a marketing advantage in the United States. The U.S. market was growing, but gradually. Nonetheless, Nissan felt that Americans needed low-priced economy cars, perhaps as a second family car. Surveys of the U.S. auto industry encouraged Nissan to display its cars at the Imported Motor car Show in Los Angeles. The exhibition was noticed by Business Week, but as an analyst wrote in 1957, 'With over 50 foreign car makers already on sale here, the Japanese auto industry isn't likely to carve out a big slice of the U.S. market for itself.' Nissan considered this criticism as it struggled to improve domestic sales. Small-scale production resulted in high unit costs and high prices. In fact, a large percentage of Datsun cars were sold to Japanese taxi companies. Yet Kawamata, the company's new and ambitious president, was determined to increase exports to the United States. Kawamata noted two principal reasons for his focus on exports: 'Increased sales to the U.S.A. would give Nissan more prestige and credit in the domestic markets as well as other areas and a further price cut is possible through mass producing export cars.' By 1958 Nissan had contracted with two U.S. distributors, Woolverton Motors of North Hollywood, california, and chester G. Luby of Forest Hills, New York. Nevertheless, sales did not improve as quickly as Nissan had hoped. As a result, Nissan sent two representatives to the United States to help increase sales: Soichi Kawazoe, an engineer and former employee of GM and Ford; and Yutaka Katayama, an advertising and sales promotion executive. Each identified a need for the development of a new company to sell and service Datsuns in the United States. By 1960 Nissan Motor corporation, based in Los Angeles, had 18 employees, 60 dealers, and a sales total of 1,640 cars and trucks. The success of the Datsun pickup truck in the U.S. market encouraged new dealerships. Datsun assembly plants were built in Mexico and Peru during the 1960s. In 1966 Nissan merged with the Prince Motor company Ltd.-- gaining the Skyline and Gloria models--and two years later Datsun passenger cars began production in Australia. During 1969 cumulative vehicle exports reached one million units. This was a result of Katayama and Kawazoe's efforts to teach Japanese manufacturers to build automobiles comparable to U.S. cars. This meant developing mechanical similarities and engine capacities that could keep up with American traffic. The introduction of the Datsun 240Z marked the debut of foreign sports cars in the U.S. market. Datsun began to receive good reviews from automotive publications in the United States, and sales began to improve. Also at this time, the first robotics were installed in Nissan factories to help increase production. 1970s and 1980s: From Economy cars to Luxury Sedans In 1970, Japan launched its first satellite on a Nissan rocket. Only five years later, Nissan export sales reached $5 million. But allegations surfaced that Nissan U.S.A. was 'pressuring and restricting its dealers in various ways: requiring them to sell at list prices, limiting their ability to discount, enforcing territorial limitations,' according to author John B. Rae. In 1973 Nissan U.S.A. agreed to abide by a decree issued from the U.S. Department of Justice that prohibited it from engaging in such activities. The 1970s marked a slump in the Japanese auto industry as a result of the oil crisis. Gasoline prices started to increase, and then a number of other difficulties arose. U.S. President Richard Nixon devalued the dollar and announced an import surcharge: transportation prices went up and export control was lacking. To overcome these problems, Nissan U.S.A. brought in chuck King, a 19-year veteran of the auto industry, to improve management, correct billing errors, and minimize transportation damages. As a result, sales continued to increase with the help of Nissan's latest model, the Datsun 210 'Honeybee,' which was capable of traveling 41 miles on one gallon of gas. In 1976 the company began the production of motorboats.