Nissan to Focus on PH as Part of Turnaround Plan

Nissan is expected to announce its “operational performance plan” by the end of the month, which will see them shift their strategic direction to markets which include the Philippines.

In a Reuters report, Nissan will pull back from Europe, and instead focus on selected markets such as the U.S., Japan, China, Thailand, Australia, and the Philippines. The Philippines, together with Australia and Thailand represents 90 percent of Nissan’s sales in the Asia region (excluding Japan, China, and India) which explains its plans to further expands sales here.

The plan which will be led by Chief Operating Officer Ashwani Gupta rather than CEO Makoto Uchida focuses on freeing up resources in other markets and then pumping them back to what the carmaker calls its core markets.

Markets such as Europe will be concentrated on the all-new Juke and Qashqai, Patrol in the Middle East, and a more targeted line-up in other countries such as India, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa, Russia, Brazil, and Mexico.

In addition, the plan will see Nissan cut competition and expand its cooperation with Alliance partners. For instance, Mitsubishi will take the development lead in regions such as Southeast Asia, leveraging its plug-in electric technology, while Renault will focus on vehicle technologies in Europe.

The new plan doesn’t mean a total retreat from markets where Nissan currently is, but it will entail more assembly plant closures—more than the 14 already announced last July.