[Aditya]

Nissan India has announced that it has hired Satinder Singh Bajwa as Vice President sales, network and customer relations from April 12, 2015. He will report to Arun Malhotra, the Managing Director of the company and will be responsible for accelerating sales, expanding the reach and ensuring customer satisfaction for both Nissan and Datsun across India.



He 20 years of experience in functions like sales, marketing, dealer management and key account management in the automobile industry. Prior to joining Nissan, he held the position of Group Head - Sales in Hyundai Motor India. In the past he had also worked with Maruti Suzuki, Piaggio and Bajaj Auto Ltd. He has come in the place of Ajay Raghuvanshi, who resigned from the post of Vice President, Sales of Nissan last month.

Satinder Singh Bajwa has an MBA in Marketing from Institute of Training and Advanced Studies in Management and Communication, Pune. He also holds a Bachelors in Engineering (Mechanical) degree from KLS Gogte Institute of Technology, affiliated to the Karnataka University.

[ampere]

I understand its the synergy of products and backend logistics that will make the business run. But today I think Nissan's need of hour is a vibrant product range which the talented guys can take to the customers. I think they need to address that basic lacunae.

[ajmat]

Arvind Saxena would be regretting leaving Hyundai for dead end GM

This guy must be really crazy to do something just as disastrous

[shady_lawyer]

Originally Posted by ajmat

This guy must be really crazy to do something just as disastrous

Sir, If one were to look empirically, I concede the argument and would say you are right. I however hold a diametrically opposite viewpoint and request your leave to humbly disagree.
I think its a brilliant step to bring in someone from Hyundai for the reason that in the long (really long) term Nissan has an excellent possibility (amongst the many worthy contenders) to be the 5th largest seller after Maruti-Hyundai-Honda-Mahindra.

They have many challenges:
1. The dictates of the alliance with Renault imposes shackles upon their own movement.
2. The product line needs to be beefed up.
3. Most importantly their service support needs to be radically overhauled.
4. Buyer conscience penetration has to go up.
5. The Datsun dilemma (they can't live with it, they can live without it and occasionally as TBHP charts show they even outsell some other manufacturers)

But for the sake of argument if we were to start seeing more and more nissan badged cars on the road, the general confidence in the brand would go up. The cars they manufacture are fundamentally sound and I would hazard to say reliable. Thus a person coming from Hyundai, who has experience in how to firstly attract the foot falls and then convert them into sales might just be the trick that might get everything to fall into place. He might not be able to turn them around and I'll ending up the clown agreed, but for a company that manufactures cars that are not majorly worse off that the competition (I'm excluding Datsun here) current sales figures are disappointing.

I remember when were looking to upgrade from the Indica, the Sunny never even crossed our mind. We looked at the Vento, Linea, City and Dzire and so on. The only reason we bought the Sunny was the TBHP review and how easily it ticked the right boxes of reliable engine, space and safety features for us, but it took us to reach out to the product instead of the other way around.

In a lighter vein as Captain Jack Sparrow said "crazy people don't know they are crazy, I know I'm crazy, therefore I'm not crazy. Now, isn't that crazy"

[ritz3645]

Ideally the position is too big for me to comment.

It is a great move and win win for both, in comparison to another high profile move from Maruti to Tata.

Nissan has all the tech in the world but it need to be fine tuned for a mass market like India, and Hyundai is the best place to practice that.

Hyundai is a perfect example where marketing dept is more dominant than the tech dept. It is what they are good at. An example is the number of refresh or latest gizmos in comparison to competition.

Where as in Maruti its opposite, the Tech people are dominant. This is the reason Maruti cars only have 'Special Edition', ie some added accessory only. As the tech dept is dominant and hardly cares of Marketing dept inputs.

Nissan is here for numbers, in the mass market segment of India.

Time taken for Datsun, from concept to go live, shows how hungry is Nissan.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/46894806.cms

[drmohitg]

More than the innovation in its product range, Nissan first needs to check its service network. The service experience is far away from the Japanese standards. For example, the hassle free service experience from Toyota makes me want to buy their cars again and again even at a bloated price tag whereas I refrain from even recommending Nissan to anyone these days due to the dismal service experience across multiple dealerships. And if that is the scene in NCR then I can only guess the situation in other cities.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

More than the innovation in its product range, Nissan first needs to check its service network. .

This is my point, we see no will from Nissan to improve product or service

Originally Posted by shady_lawyer

Sir, If one were to look empirically, I concede the argument and would say you are right. I however hold a diametrically opposite viewpoint and request your leave to humbly disagree.
I think its a brilliant step to bring in someone from Hyundai for the reason t

They have many challenges:
1. The dictates of the alliance with Renault imposes shackles upon their own movement.
2. The product line needs to be beefed up.
3. Most importantly their service support needs to be radically overhauled.
4. Buyer conscience penetration has to go up.
5. The Datsun dilemma (they can't live with it, they can live without it and occasionally as TBHP charts show they even outsell some other manufacturers)

But for the sake of argument if we were to start seeing more and more nissan badged cars on the road,

While I do agree with some of your points, we see no inspiring Nissan products in the future pipeline. The current Nissan pipeline (Terrano excepted) is almost as uninspiring as the GM india portfolio.

I could be wrong, if Nissan have some good products up their sleeve, we can only hope this was a good move

[ampere]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

More than the innovation in its product range, Nissan first needs to check its service network. The service experience is far away from the Japanese standards. For example, the hassle free service experience from Toyota makes me want to buy their cars again and again even at a bloated price tag whereas I refrain from even recommending Nissan to anyone these days due to the dismal service experience across multiple dealerships. And if that is the scene in NCR then I can only guess the situation in other cities.

Originally Posted by ajmat

This is my point, we see no will from Nissan to improve product or service

While I do agree with some of your points, we see no inspiring Nissan products in the future pipeline. The current Nissan pipeline (Terrano excepted) is almost as uninspiring as the GM india portfolio.

I see this as a Chicken and egg problem.

No inspiring products -> low sale -> No will to invest heavily in service -> the cycle continues.

While I do understand the viewpoint: Get the service good for existing product lines at least. But their can be a counter point that since their is hardly any volume flowing in to the service centers, why invest. (I know its hazardous thought.) Thats why my original point:

- Need a synergy at both end.
- Invest/Introduce one good/new global product into the market per year or two
- Invest in the backend in parallel.
- Co-develop on both the fronts inch-by-inch.

[shady_lawyer]

Originally Posted by ampere

I see this as a Chicken and egg problem.

My thoughts in a nutshell, thank you Sir. I'm not reiterating what I said earlier but the cycle needs to be broken at some stage and improving sales might just be that step. Each aspect of operations feeds into the other and only a cohesive and in-step improvement will take Nissan forward. Sales without service, models without sales, service without sales are sure fire steps to failure.

[Off-Topic]-Why'd Nissan need to hire anyone? All they should have done is asked us- "now what Boss?"

[arnabchak]

Originally Posted by shady_lawyer

They have many challenges:
1. The dictates of the alliance with Renault imposes shackles upon their own movement.
2. The product line needs to be beefed up.
3. Most importantly their service support needs to be radically overhauled.
4. Buyer conscience penetration has to go up.
5. The Datsun dilemma (they can't live with it, they can live without it and occasionally as TBHP charts show they even outsell some other manufacturers)

Dear Shady
Though I completely agree with your view point, the challenges mentioned are easier said than done.

The challenges mentioned are spot on too. But believe me, in India, it is perception that counts the most.
Why else can you justify Fiat's position in the market right now, or for that matter even Tata.
Nissan/Datsun/Renault are brands which have a very low recall value and even lower aspiration(desire value).

1) Renault may not be in a dictating scenario with a one trick pony. With MSIL and Hyundai gunning for the CUV space, Duster days may not be too rosy ahead.
2) Product line needs to be beefed up. Yes. Most certainly. No new Nissan products(barring the niche LEAF EV, which is under test) in the anvil.
Lodgy has been launched by Renault but does not have any USP to give it a thumbs up compared to competition.
Any product from Test to launch is a 2-3 year plan. With that pace, Nissan/Renault are not looking at anything till 2017 atleast.
By then, the competition would have moved on big time.
3)Service levels continue to disappoint. Recall seeing Rush's(GTOs) thread of his workhorse Sunny's service woes. If they can do with informed and car enthusiasts who can give then a lesson or two about automobile maintenance, what are the common man worries, will just be unthinkable.
The service has to improve, many times over along with the increase in the service centres.
That again is a long term 2-3 year plan. Competition- Again, improvises and improvises over and over again.
4)Perception is very difficult to change. Fiesta is a fantastic car, launched as an overpriced product. Then, facelifts and a VFM price tag happens. Does the scenario change. No. It does a free fall.
Perception rules. B2 cities are never privy for little known brands. Hyundai and Maruti rules here.
This trust comes from delivering consistently for at least a decade.
The Nissan/Renault have to earn this.
And this will come from point 3 and sustaining it. Customer Wow counts, big time.
5)Datsun- What dilemma are we talking about.
This is a classic case of the theory of marginalisation and theory of substitution.
They eat their own sibling share(read Micra/Pulse) i.e if the customer vehemently stays in the stable.
Or, they act as fodder for rivals. Maruti Wagon Rs and Altos, i10s and Eons lap up the residue.

@Shady,
I agree to disagree but do not think this Renault/ Nissan duo, at current levels are poised for the No. 5 spot anytime soon.

[Carpainter]

I more or less agree with all the posts above. Hiring a successful executive can be fruitful only if you have the tricks in your arsenal. Nissan Micra and specially Sunny were selling initially well but they failed to give them the timely refreshment they needed and as a result the sales have dried up. Their portfolio is not attractive, their aftersales is nothing to write home about, their aspirational value is as good as fiat and their dealer network is thinner than that of VW I guess. So what will drive their sales.

[thoma]

I would definitely welcome this move as I have said elsewhere that Nissan was sleeping on export profits than wetting their hand in the local market. This is going to change now I guess.

Their current products are good, but are they late in the model refresh bandwagon, I doubt so. More because, the brand perception has already been cast upon the market, a bit difficult to erase those down the line.

Originally Posted by arnabchak

I agree to disagree but do not think this Renault/ Nissan duo, at current levels are poised for the No. 5 spot anytime soon.

The said duo is already at no. 7 spot. Though I have to agree that they have to double their figures to climb 2 spots and is herculean, but not impossible.

[GTO]

Here's a similar thread on Nissan - Link. It evolved into a superb discussion.

[arnabchak]

Originally Posted by thoma

The said duo is at no. 7 spot. Though I have to agree that they have to double their figures to climb 2 spots and is herculean, but not impossible.

Exactly my point Thoma.
Climbing the two steps is Herculean considering that the brand do not have any products which can really set the charts on fire(Barring Duster/Terrano).

It is comparatively easier to retain top position than regain territory coz the battle is not only on products but also perception of your products in the market along with the reach.

[drmohitg]

Its not that they do not have good cars already. The Sunny is a great car for an average Indian family. I have heard only good things about the Micra too till now. They also had a very competitive car in form of the Micra Active that was priced very well. The Evalia is still an unknown car to 99.99% of the population and they need to get out and market it specially with the Lodgy coming up. But somehow they send out the wrong signals all the time with zero marketing and product support. On top of that the servicing is horrible and hence even the current customer is not happy. So what are they really doing?

Like it or hate it but there initial Sunny Ad campaign was very catchy. Almost every person I come across remembers the "Caaaarr" tagline and is amazed with all that space inside the cabin. Nissan really needs a wake up call. Once the brand becomes diluted then there is no coming back. For example what has happened slightly with GM India too.