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Inside Nissan’s comeback gameplan: Profitability, product mix, and the long road ahead
Featuring Vinay Shahani, Chief Marketing and Sales Officer for Nissan/Infiniti USA
Welcome to another edition of the Car Dealership Guy Podcast Recap newsletter.
In this episode, I speak to Vinay Shahani, Chief Marketing and Sales Officer at Nissan/Infiniti USA, to talk about fixing dealer relationships, cleaning up inventory mistakes, and whether Nissan still has what it takes to compete.
1. Focus on the things you can control.
There will always be economic headwinds–some more challenging than others–but stay focused on the mission.
“I have a very simple philosophy, which is I focus on the controllables. What can I control in my purview with my scope of my job? And that usually makes the priorities pretty clear.”
2. Keep the team clear on the overall mission when challenges arise.
It’s up to leadership to try to filter out the noise.
“For me, the focus is to figure out how to improve the brand, drive demand, and…sell cars. That's what we need to be focused on. And you got to stay even closer with your key stakeholders in those situations.”
Communication is super important. And in challenging times, it’s better to err on the side of over-communication wherever possible, whether it’s meeting with people face to face or doing more Zoom calls.
3. Problem-solving is part of the business.
Vinay’s approach to addressing challenges in the business is rooted in the years he spent interning in Ford’s engineering department during his college years.
“That's where you hone your skillset of…how do I look at a problem and how do I dissect it? And what do I look at as far as coming up with solutions?”
Starting as an engineer and then moving into the commercial side of the business has helped Vinay to be able to better assess industry challenges and implement the right solutions.
4. Tackle the challenges head-on.
Vinay–who has worked for a few car companies before returning to Nissan, where he’d spent a decade early on in his career–was compelled to accept his current role at Nissan in 2024 because he likes to take on challenges.
“I'd stayed in touch with many dealers over time. They used to call me and say, hey, ‘This is what's happening.’ I felt there was this desire inside me to come back and see how I could help. And that's ultimately what brought me back.”
Vinay is excited about the opportunity to leverage the experiences he’s gained over the years to help turn Nissan around.
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5. The lessons learned at Toyota are invaluable.
Prior to accepting his current role at Nissan, Vinay worked at Toyota, which continues to shape how he approaches the business, especially regarding dealer relations.
“There (are) very few things that Toyota doesn't do right. And I think one of the things that I learned was…the brand ultimately is brought to life by the dealer. The dealer is the face of the brand to the consumer.”
The branding power of the dealer has been a guiding principle in how Vinay has worked to improve Nissan’s relationship with its dealer body.
6. Identify the ‘big rocks’ that are impeding progress.
Vinay has identified several trouble spots critical to turning Nissan around, the first being making leadership changes.
“Between those team changes that I made, as well as getting Christian Meunier (CEO of the Americas) back. There's a huge shift of the power center of the company, where the company is much more operations-focused and dealer-focused than ever before.”
It’s important for an automaker to listen and hear its dealers to be able to understand, identify, and address their concerns. It all reaffirms why communication is so key.
7. Success still boils down to two fundamental things: sales and profits.
Vinay has been spending considerable time thinking of ways that Nissan can improve sales and profits for its dealer body, whether it’s making sure the right incentive programs are in place or adding a dealer volume bonus plan.
“…We've spent a lot of time with the National Dealer Council…jointly coming up with programs to drive sales.”
Efforts to turn Nissan’s sales and profits around for stakeholders include improving variables like product mix, pricing, and simplification.
8. Brand perception is everything.
Vinay’s bigger overarching strategy for turning things around is focused on addressing the issues that can have the greatest impact.
"The reality is I don't have an infinite budget to go and attack all of these problems. I've got to prioritize. And I've kind of alluded to what my priorities are, getting the brand perception back on track, winning back that mojo.”
Improving Nissan’s brand perception will go a long way in helping to improve sales and profits.
“It really kills me to see where the brand perception is, you'll see. And that's something I'm determined to change.”
9. Having a luxury arm can be a huge asset in today’s market.
Nissan has underestimated the power of Infiniti and the luxury brand’s ability to be a much bigger sales and profit source for the company.
“Platform sharing is the norm in this business. It’s going to cost you a billion to a billion and a half to develop a new car. Why wouldn't you spend a couple hundred million more and develop two cars with the appropriate differentiation, top hat, and interior? Maybe the powertrain and the chassis are the same.”
That’s a huge opportunity for Nissan moving forward.
10. Your mistakes in the business don’t have to define who you are.
Nissan aims to build on its success with a range of new product offerings that push the brand forward, spanning the new Rogue plug-in-hybrid and all-new Leaf set to debut this year.
“Covering all ends of the spectrum between ICE, EV, and in between, I think there is a historical precedent of the power of where the Nissan brand has been…It's been done before, and we can do it again.”
There could be a few surprise products on the horizon as well.
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