Case Study On Nissan Motor Corporation
Case Study On Nissan Motor Corporation
Case Study On Nissan Motor Corporation
Industry: Automotive
Divisions: Nissan
Infiniti
Nismo
Datsun
BRIEF HISTORY OF NISSAN MOTOR CORPORATION
Nissan started in 1911 when it was originally founded under the name
Kwaishinsha Motor Car Works by Masujiro Hashimoto. Three years later, the
company produced its first car, the DAT, which was an acronym of the three
investing partners’ surnames. Nissan went through several name changes
throughout the 1920s, and it wasn’t until 1934 that Nissan Motor Company
was used for the first time.
A company called Nihon Sangyou, or Japan Industries, merged with what
would become Nissan Motor Company in 1931. The CEO of Nihon Sangyou,
Yoshisuke Aikawa, was excited about starting an auto division of the
company, so when other shareholders were less enthusiastic, Aikawa bought
them out and began focusing on building Nissan manufacturing plants.
Nissan continued making Datsuns, the kind of car they’d been making for
years, as well as producing trucks and planes for the Japanese army. After the
war, Nissan partnered with various automakers to build vehicles for them,
including Austin Motor Company in the 1950s and 1960s and a merger with
Prince Motor Company in 1966, which introduced vehicles to the Nissan
lineup that are still in production to this day.
1953 was a dramatic moment in Nissan’s history because of anti-communist
sentiments after the Korean War ended. Nissan’s labor union acted harshly
and fired hundreds of workers, and even had union leaders arrested.
Eventually a new union was formed that helped Nissan expand rapidly, in
terms of technology.
Nissan started expanding worldwide in the late 1950s, when it realized that
the small Datsun would fill a hole in the Australian and US auto markets.
Nissan showed cars at the Los Angeles Auto Show in 1958 and then opened a
subsidiary in the US in 1960. A plant was built in England in 1986 and by
2007 produced over 400,000 vehicles per year, which became the highest
producing plant in Europe. Nissan also has plants in Brazil and sells cars all
over the world. Nissan is especially popular in China, where it sold more than
half a million units in 2009.
In 2001, Nissan established a manufacturing plant in Brazil. In 2005, Nissan
added operations in India, through its subsidiary Nissan Motor India Pvt. Ltd.
With its global alliance partner, Renault, Nissan invested $990 million to set
up a manufacturing facility in Chennai, catering to the Indian market as well
as a base for exports of small cars to Europe. Nissan entered the Middle East
market in 1957 when it sold its first car in Saudi Arabia. Nissan sold nearly
520,000 new vehicles in China in 2009 in a joint venture with Dongfeng
Motor.
Luxgen:
Volkswagen:
Nissan licensed the Volkswagen Santana. Production began in 1984, at
Nissan's Zama, Kanagawa, and ended in May 1990.
Alfa Romeo:
From 1983 to 1987, Nissan cooperated with Alfa Romeo to build the
Arna. The goal was for Alfa to compete in the family hatchback market
segment, and for Nissan to establish a foothold in the European market.
After Alfa Romeo's takeover by Fiat, both the car and cooperation were
discontinued.
General Motors:
LDV:
VISION:
MISSION:
STRATEGIES ADOPTED BY COMPANY
Nissan’s six production facilities had been damaged and about 50 of its critical
suppliers were weakened. Hence, the strategies adopted definitely pulled the
Company from such draining scenarios as they addressed exactly the issue
witnessed by Nissan. The various benefits of build-to-order strategy can be
described as follows:
The biggest advantage of build-to-order strategy is to gain specializations of
products manufactured. This occurs by manufacturing the product as per
customers’ specifications and expectations.
This strategy eliminates unnecessary inventory from the Company by making
goods which are actually demanded by the customers. This further gives no
scope for dead stock.
ORGANISATION STRUCTURE OF COMPANY
The Nissan Motor Corporation was established in the year 1933. The
company was in debt of an amount more than twenty million dollars. The
company was under extreme pressure from the creditors. While making efforts
for the resurfacing and coming out of bankruptcy, in the year 1999, Nissan
made a professional alliance with Renault, which is a company of French
origin.
The common strategic management structure of Nissan and Renault was
founded on 28th march, 2002. Nissan holds about fifteen percent of the
Renault shares and Renault holds about 43.4 percent shares of Nissan.
Currently, Nissan manufactures vehicles in twenty countries of the world
including Japan. The company offers its products and services in more than
160 countries worldwide. Currently, the company has 155,099 employees
working on a consolidated basis and 28,403 employees working on a non-
consolidated basis. The Nissan corporate hierarchy consists of different levels
of executives and committees, which are as follows:
The Alliance Board: The Alliance Board is composed of executive
committee members of both the companies namely Nissan and Renault.
However, both the companies remain independent in their top
management. The function of the Alliance Board is to validate the
respective strategic business plans of Renault and Nissan. The board takes
decisions on the common activities, and monitors the combined progress.
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