The audience was downright giddy.
When not cheering, it was applauding. When not applauding, it was cheering. When not doing either, it was screaming in joy.
Hundreds of Nissan workers from nearby Smyrna and a smattering of media gathered here to listen to executives vow that the Japanese automaker was not only alive and well, but that it also had a raft of new products coming soon to guarantee its future.
The Smyrna workers stopped short of hoisting the executives on their shoulders and marching them around the exhibition hall while singing “Happy Days are Here Again.”
Though the media in recent months has suggested Nissan should be put on life support, the crowd here railed at any hint that an obituary is in order.
This was the Nissan Traveling Road Show, an admission that the automaker has some troubles, such as a weak currency in Japan, sluggish sales in Japan and the U.S., a stable of model offerings that has focused for too long on sedans rather than sport-utility vehicles and trucks and an awareness that Toyota and Honda dominate Japanese nameplates, leaving Nissan as an also-ran with Mitsubishi and Mazda.
Yet the executives preaching the resurrection of Nissan promised all sins would be forgiven once the vehicles on stage went into production. Since most of those future vehicles would be built in Smyrna, the crowd was in a frenzy.
We cornered Mike Seergy, vice president and general manager of Nissan, before he reached the microphone to emcee the event.
Why do this? Why show off your future so that the competition knows what you are doing?
“It had gotten to circle-the-wagons time at Nissan,” Seergy said.
“We had our backs against the wall and had to come out swinging. We needed to build confidence about our future by explaining our short- and long-term strategy, by showing the products that will allow us to survive,” he said of the four-city road show that gives away most of Nissan’s secrets for the next three years to show there would be a next three years.
“We have employees and dealers counting on us and we want to show them we aren’t as screwed up as they’ve been reading. We have a game plan we’re going to deliver on and if the competition underestimates us, they do so at their own peril,” Seergy said.
Strong words from an executive who has seen sales decline 27.5 percent in the first six months of this year.
With a rock song–“I get knocked down, but I get up again. You’re never going to keep me down”–playing in the background, Seergy pulled the covers off a variety of products that probably would have generated as much cheers and applause from a gathering of Nissan owners as it would from those who earn a living bolting them together.
Here’s a rundown of what’s in store at Nissan, starting with the hits of the show, a trio of concepts in which at least two will be built.
– NCS or New Concept Sedan– A curvy blend of wagon, van, sport-ute and sedan that looks family size though it’s built off a stretch of the compact Altima platform.
“As people go back to cars from SUVs and mini-vans, they still want SUV seating and mini-van cargo volume. NCS refines what people now call the traditional sedan,” said Jerry Hirshberg, head of Nissan’s design operations.
Basically NCS is a Buick Signia done right. Signia was Buick’s concept hybrid on last year’s auto-show circuit, a blend of sedan and wagon with lots of cargo capacity.
The four-door NCS has sunroofs over the front and rear seats and a bubble glass hatchback rear lid. Open the hatch, fold the seats and you have mini-van like storage as well as space to sleep two adults. The flat cargo floor has a stowage compartment underneath with the spare tire under that.
NCS would be an all-wheel-drive vehicle for on- or off-roading. It will be unveiled at the Chicago Auto Show next year, and if crowd reaction there and at other auto shows is positive, a 2001-2002 debut of NCS or a variation of it is possible.
– SUT or Sport Utility Truck–A combination sport-utility/truck and a true multipurpose package that probably will be available for 2000 1/2 or 2001.
SUT is an extended-cab truck with four swing-out doors. In back, there’s a mini 4-foot-long cargo bed that looks 2 to 4 feet too short to serve any useful purpose.
“A truck bed is only used 20 percent of the time and when it is, only 20 percent of the bed is used so you only need half the regular truck bed,” Hirshberg said.
But hold on. There’s a hatchback lid opening at the rear of the extended cab. The lid opens, the seat backs fold flat and you can slip a 4-by-8-foot sheet of plywood onto the truck bed and the cabin when you need to haul one. And the sides of the truck bed open to reveal compartments for such things as tools or fishing gear.
– Nissan Z–“Daring to bring back a legend just like VW did with the Beetle,” Seergy said. However, most who viewed it liked it, but we didn’t hear anyone say, “I’ve gotta have it.”
A very rough-around-the-edges concept to satisfy those who long for the original sporty Z car. Looks very much like the original 240Z with a bit of Porsche flair. Nissan’s goal is an affordable $20,000 sports car rather than the $40,000 exotic the Z had swelled to before being dropped after the 1996 model run. Some Nissan officials insist “gotta have it.” Didn’t attract the most crowds at the road show, yet possible as an image car for 2001.
– Nissan also revealed the 1999 Sentra, which will feature a front end borrowed from the 200SX that’s being discontinued. The story here is the addition of $990 in equipment without raising the price. For 2000, Sentra is redesigned and will be longer, wider, yet still what we’d consider a conservatively designed economy sedan.
– The Quest mini-van gets a remake for 1999 with an all-new body, four doors, a peppier 3.3-liter, 170-horsepower V-6 and a novel parcel shelf behind the rear seat that can be adjusted up or down to hold a variety of different-size objects such as diaper bag, stroller or golf clubs.
– The Frontier pickup truck, which bowed in 1998 with only a 4-cylinder engine, adds a 3.3-liter V-6 only in 4×4 versions this fall. In June 1999, Frontier will add a version with four swingout doors as a 2000 model.
– In January, Nissan brings out a ’99 1/2 Pathfinder sport-ute with a new front end and a 3.3-liter V-6. Then, a redesign arrives in January 2000 with a larger 3.5-liter V-6. It will be a 2000 1/2 model.
– Maxima gets a remake for the 2000 model year that Nissan says will “restore its soul as a performance sedan.” Like Sentra, it’s bigger, rounder and very conservative.
“The 2000 Sentra and Maxima may not be head snappers with in-your-face styling, but they’ll have character, unlike Accord and Camry that look like appliances,” Hirshberg insisted.
– Altima gets minor cosmetic changes for the 2000 model year, such as a Maxima grille, plus 16-inch tires and dual side air bags.
Maxima and Altima undergo major revamps as early as 2002 but more likely 2003, when they’ll share a platform. Nissan is still debating whether it will offer a 4- and 6-cylinder Altima and a 6-cylinder Maxima or simply 4- and 6-cylinder cars carrying the Maxima name, dropping the Altima name.
Nissan is committed to more models off fewer platforms to reduce costs by $1,000 per vehicle and has vowed to reduce its 25 platforms to 14 by 2001 and to 10 by 2003 as part of a goal to reach the break-even point on only 600,000 unit sales.
– A major new entry for 2000 is a sport-utility built off the Frontier platform powered by a 4 or V-6 engine. It drew big crowds here.
Nissan said the still-to-be-named SUV is meant to fill a gap in Nissan’s lineup with a lower-cost, more-affordable SUV that’s smaller than the Pathfinder.
The SUV looks a little like a Subaru Forester. Neat touches include a roof line that rises to give rear-seat passengers optimum headroom (like the Dodge Durango), a bulge in the rear hatch lid that houses a removable back pack that can be taken with you when you park and built-in tool and first-aid kits.
Very nice event, but was the intent to show that Nissan has a future or to attract automakers interested in sweeping Nissan off its feet through an acquisition?
“It’s important that we stand alone and turn around by ourselves. We have too much debt, but we have a solid plan to turn around and we can do that on our own. When we turn around, then we can talk about partnerships,” said Minoru Nakamura, president of Nissan Motor Corp.
