Is Nissan's Big Marketing Push Coming Too Late?

Part of the package according to Automotive News is new incentives to get leftover 2019s off the lot Dealers will also get 550pervehicle volume bonuses through September up from 250 A whopping 40 percent of Nissan dealers are currently losing moneyquotThe increase in marketing spend is much neededquot Jessica Caldwell insights executive director for Edmundscom told MediaVillage quotSales have been sluggish for Nissan and with new products like Sentra and refreshed Titan they need to drive consumer interest in their productsquotThe company overall is not doing well and recently cut its fullyear operating profit forecast by 43 percent Internationally sales were down 11 percent in the Octoberamp8211December 2019 period In the US sales were down 87 percent in 2019 amp8212 against an industry average of a 12 percent decline Infiniti sales are down too The company39s US division sold 18065 cars in December 2018 and 11243 in December 2019 The bright spot was the best month ever for the big QX80 up 9 percent to 2580 sold Americans can39t get enough of the fullsized luxurious SUVsIt would be easy to say that all of NissanInfiniti39s troubles are due to the firing of hardcharging CEO Carlos Ghosn but industry analysts and dealers don39t necessarily see it that way Ghosn gets blamed for being overly ambitious and trying to grow the Nissan and Infiniti brands too quickly Growth at any cost meant that dealers strained to meet goals and sold cars cheaply at the end of each month irritating consumers who paid more for themSo Ghosn deserves some of the blame But focusing on him has perhaps gone on too long and the dispute continues to roil the companyGhosn wanted Nissan to have an 8 percent share of the global market by 2019 Instead the share actually shrank from the 58 percent the company had in 2011 Now it39s 55 percent behind VW Ford and Honda That39s not goodIs it the cars Yes and no The company hasn39t had a lot of exciting new products to announce But it39s doing some things right Infiniti placed third on JD Power39s 2019 US Sales Satisfaction Index for luxury cars after Porsche the leader and MercedesBenz Chris Sutton vice president of automotive retail at JD Power told Media Village that Infiniti is quotgood on using technology to sell carsquot an approach that includes putting tablets in the hands of the sales staff Verizon is big on that tooNissan didn39t do so badly either placing eighth of 20 on the Power list among massmarket brands quotI would argue that both Nissan and Infiniti performed relatively wellquot Sutton said In 2013 the brand was in 10th place which means it39s moved up but not a great dealIf consumers have a good experience with a brand they39ll stick with it That is unless they39re seduced away by something newer shinier and with more tech And that39s where the new models come in The allnew 2020 Sentra is being billed as a technology tour de force but a lot of it amp8212 Apple CarPlay and compatibility USBC ports streaming audio via Bluetooth plus various safety packages amp8212 is on most new cars Oddly enough a promotional photo for the Sentra shows a family with all of their phones plugged in What no BluetoothThe new 2020 Titan is welcome in the truckloving marketplace but it offers only one powertrain amp8212 a 56liter 400horsepower V8 coupled to a ninespeed automatic amp8212 when the American rivals offer a whole smorgasbord of choices Towing ability is less than stellarWhen asked what type of increase in marketing spend aside from dealer incentives Nissan is planning its public relations team said the company doesn39t have any details it can share at this timeIn the meantime Nissan39s dealers are restive I39m sure they welcomed the February 13 announcement But they want more including cars and especially trucks that consumers can get excited about Here39s the problem distilled from The New York TimesquotNissan has also failed to develop vehicles that appeal to the changing tastes of American consumers who are more interested in trucks and sport utility vehicles than Nissan39s staid sedans And while the company has sought to address those problems its upper ranks have spent much of the last year consumed with battles to fill the power vacuum created by Mr Ghosn39s ousterquotTime to focus NissanPhoto credit NissanDon39t stop now Stay in the know on auto marketing strategies trends with more from Jim MotavalliClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

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Is Nissan's Big Marketing Push Coming Too Late?

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Jim Motavalli

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Is Nissan's Big Marketing Push Coming Too Late?

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