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New Nissans on the horizon
Nissan have announced the launch of four new models between April 2012 and March 2013; the new Micra platform ‘Almera’, the Leaf Electric Vehicle, Patrol SUV and the Tiida replacement into the Australian market. The Tiida replacement vehicle will either be known as the ‘Pulsar’ or the ‘Versa’. The brand Tiida failed to capture the Australian market with sales dropping a whopping 41% this year alone. We assume they will return to the Aussie loved Pulsar, but corporate decisions are sometimes not based on human reality. Go figure.
There may be some difficulty in brand recognition initially as the ‘Almera’ was the name for the European Export of the discontinued Pulsar, now they are moving it to the Micra replacement. Luckily here in Australia, we like our cars simply to sound like a ‘car’ and if they don’t, we simply don’t buy them. Let’s hope they spend enough money on the advertising to make us all ‘see the light’ of yet another branding change.
Nissan Australia has stated that the ‘Almera’ (the new Micra) will be the same platform but it will have four doors and a different body completely and different engines to choose from.
Nissan are hoping to join Mitsubishi and Toyota in the electric car game with the Leaf Electric. Not much has been said about it, but Nissan’s growth in the international market and its tremendously modern designers it will be something to see when it finally arrives. Let’s hope it is priced reasonably unlike its cousin, the iMiev from Mitusbishi.
Australians’ have always loved the Patrol and to convert it to a complete SUV is sheer genius. The Patrol name is synonymous with safety, ruggedness and reliability so it is sure to be a winner if it carries modern styling with all those basic features.
2012 is shaping up to be a great year of growth for Nissan; let’s hope the cars themselves are not a letdown like the Tiida and the Maxima.
Remember to contact the people at Private Fleet for a great deal on any new Nissan..or any other car for that matter!
Interbrand Ranks Toyota No.1 for 2011
In July 2011, Interbrand, the World’s biggest brand consultancy, ranked the Toyota brand as the number 1 most valuable and most green car manufacturer on the planet. Toyota was quickly followed by Mercedes Benz, BMW, Honda and VW. Audi, Hyundai, Porsche, Nissan and Ferrari made it into the top 100 companies worldwide. The details are here http://www.interbrand.com/en/knowledge/best-global-brands/best-global-brands-2008/best-global-brands-2011.aspx
The volatility of the 2011 market has lead Interbrand to believe that companies’ resilience to market fluctuations is the key to staying afloat. The market place is changing as is the face of business.
The fast paced growth of the classic European market and the Chinese demand for American Automobiles has been the primary link to recovery.
The highlight of the show has to have been the Nissan Motor group making it into the top 100 companies (90th worldwide and 9th in the automotive field). Nissan was able to regroup and restock its inventory faster than its Japanese competitors after the devastating earthquake in March. It has increased its brand value like everyone else – resilience.
The Korean’s are not to be sneezed at in this area of growth and prosperity, as they showed the highest market growth over all other car makers with an astonishing 19% growth in one year. The Hyundai brand is a juggernaut with extremely high quality automobiles at a reasonable price. In today’s market place value for money is a winner.
With both an internal crisis of diminishing quality control in 2010 and an external earthquake crisis in 2011 the company dug in and focused on safety and quality modifications for its 2011 models. Add to that the implementation of a new strategy to capitalise on its world-renowned green efforts, Toyota weathered the storm beautifully to come out on top.
In fact, Interbrand named Toyota its overall, “Best Global Green Brand” ahead of 3M and Siemens. In fact, car manufacturers came out very ‘green’ indeed by filling 7 of the top 20 positions in this ranking.
How Times Have Changed
In these times of political correctness and social acceptability, to say nothing of safety issues, it is sometimes amusing to reflect that it wasn’t always like this.
A case in point is a car ad that we came across recently. The car is a Czechoslovakian made Tatra 603 made 50 years ago. It has a heavy V8 lump of an engine mounted in the boot, yet still manages the most remarkable road-holding capabilities and, despite rolling down a mountainside, can still arrive at the bottom totally unscathed!
“Truth in Advertising” simply wasn’t a dictum then, so it still gives us a few minutes’ entertainmment and some wonderment looking at what they could get away with in this less restrictive advertising era.
The commercial is in two parts, both worth watching (if you have plenty of time to spare) so sit back and relax by clicking here
Hope in the Doom and Gloom
I read an article by Kris Sayce in Money Morning recently and thought it was worth mentioning its most salient points.
At the moment, all we are reading about in the press is financial doom and gloom. The problems in Europe, especially in Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain (affectionately now referred to as PIGS) and the debt riddled United States of America.
The Financial Times headlines, “Italy turns to China for help in debt crisis”.
The Age says, “Retailing to go from ‘bad to worse'”.
Every way you look, you see destruction… job cuts, companies going bust and countries borrowing and begging from other countries. If you look locally, people like Rick Damelian and Tony Bilson are closing down – or worse, being closed by the banks. A good friend recently had a Bank appoint an Administrator to 3 profitable businesses, simply because they had revalued one of his properties at 60% of what he had paid for it and required him to ‘put in’ over $2m to get their loan valuation ratios in order. Unbelievable, but true!
Things look bad. And if we’re honest… it is pretty bad.
Amongst all the gloom there is ironically something to look positively on; the PAST. “There is no progress without destruction.”
Progress needs destruction. We know that may sound weird, but it’s true. Throughout history all improvements to human life have come as a result of destruction.
The technology sector is a perfect example:
These businesses’ weren’t doing to badly but the entrepreneurs were looking for greater profits – so they find a different product when all else fails.
Look at how Steve Jobs and Apple have transformed the way we go about our lives with the invention of the iPod, iPhone and iPad.
From garage to retail giant; but only from the pit of despair as the company was going bankrupt. Steve went looking for a ‘new’ product.
The retail sector is another great example;
Retail giants such as Harvey Norman, Myers and David Jones have been dragged into the 21st century into the ‘on-line’ market. They have had to use the new media of the internet to regain their market share and customer base. They have also had to become more competitive with cheaper overseas companies – immediately.
Again, it’s all great news for the consumer as this also drives down prices.
And it’s good news for progress and creative destruction too.
Why? We are always – Searching for profits
At some point it becomes unattractive for new players to enter the market. Start-up costs and low profit potential means entrepreneurs will look elsewhere. Simply put, the “high profit signal” isn’t flashing anymore.
But in order for progress to advance, you need an environment where entrepreneurs can flourish. Without it – progress stops.
For years, Western governments have meddled with the free market by erecting barriers to entry to keep entrepreneurs from destroying established businesses with new innovations.
The current destruction of the European countries is representative of this progression, no matter how hard it is to watch and fathom.
The larger governments will have to shrink and the smaller ones grow if they are to make the countries flourish once more. It is simply progression via destruction of out dated ideas that have stemmed from a much ‘larger’ world. Today the world is small due to technology and we may learn to embrace the change, while baring the storm.
This won’t happen overnight. But ultimately, we’ve greater faith in the abilities of entrepreneurs than we’ll ever have in the abilities of meddling bureaucrats.
Level 2, 9 Help Street