Entrevista a José Román Presidente y Director General Nissan estrategia y acciones contra COVID 19.

Thank you, thank you very much, thank you very much.

Julio, thank you very much for the interview. I'm delighted to be here. We're in time. It's very interesting and, I would say, very special. It's a privilege for me to be in your medium.

These topics are quite complex and require important management decisions. I think we've acted well as Nissan in terms of strategy, because the first thing we did was protect our employees, our business partners, and our dealers. When we began to seriously see the magnitude of the pandemic, basically what we did was shut down the factory. It was a significant cost, but I think employee health was more important. We shut down the factory for two months. The dealers were also operating intermittently, depending on the city, because there are cities that are in red, yellow, green, etc. But I think we adapted to a quite complex situation, and in the end, I think we're doing quite well. We're recovering a lot, and I think as an automotive industry, we've contributed a lot because in our case, for example, we had a lot of experience from what happened in China, in our factories in Spain, across all of Europe. So we adopted best practices and implemented them in Mexico.

It's been going quite well for us. We've had a brand strategy in place for about a year. Basically, we're in an era of important launches, and one of the most important segments for the Mexican market is the sedan segment. We've launched the new Maxima, Altima, and last year we launched the Versa. We reached 10,000 cars sold monthly just on Versa, can you imagine? And a month ago we just launched the Sentra, which has already become number one in the market in just one month. So we're very happy about that, and obviously we have a series of products we'll continue launching in the coming months.

No. What has basically happened is that in the automotive sector, many brands order—almost the entire industry orders—products, especially imported ones, 34 months in advance. So what happened is that several brands have some inventory and are now getting rid of excess inventory due to the industry slowdown. But I think now is the moment when prices have been good and aggressive. But in any case, I don't think a price war has materialized.

Well, we were the first to implement this. We're very happy about it because digital was already a big part of our strategic plan. And basically, apart from the pandemic, the digital trend is going to accelerate not only in the automotive sector but across many industries. Our network has been fantastic, and I believe we have an incredible network. We're proud of the distributor network we have, probably the best Infiniti network in the world. They're very good and we're adapting to the moment. We've had to be creative, for example, in after-sales. We saw it was difficult for customers to come to the dealership, so we went to the customer's home with all safety options, picked up the car, took it to the workshop, and returned it repaired or serviced. The important thing is to adapt, use technology, and make the customer's life easier.

Yes, this month I think will even surpass last month. As I told you, 70,000 last month, and now we're exceeding that number. I think there will be some pent-up demand from purchases that weren't made due to, I would say, safety concerns, because customers wanted a bit of security. But now the situation is normalizing. But the reality is that what we're going to have to do is learn to live with this circumstance. I think this is actually an invitation to buy a vehicle, especially for the generation we're talking about—the millennials—because there was a trend toward renting everything, having Uber, and thinking that solved everything. I'm totally in agreement.

So I think more new and used cars will be sold in the future.

No, I think it will be an upward curve, but normally, remember, we've been at 1.4 million, maybe a bit more—that's been the market in recent years. But I think we'll be at 1.1 million for the next two years, and from there we'll keep climbing little by little. But it's not like we'll recover by January of next year and return to 1.4 million in volume.

We believe it will be over 20, 21 percent market share. But what we've talked about very clearly with the team and with the distributors is that market share is not an objective in itself. Market share is a consequence of doing things well and having customers prefer us because we launch a good car, because the specifications are good, because the design appeals to them, and because the quality is very good. So what we do first is offer cars like the Versa, the Sentra, and the new surprises we have coming. And we're confident we'll achieve the numbers we want because the cars are fantastic.

For me that's difficult to answer because... I can't answer that one, but things are coming this same year, very good things. We're number one in the Kicks segment—we have almost, I would say, more than 25 percent market share in the entry-level segment, which is incredible. And with the Sentra, we're already number one this month—we surpassed the competitors for the first time. So I think the incentives and promotions are good, but they're not permanent—they're opportunities the customer has to take advantage of.

We have a great lineup of sedans and crossovers, but the sedan is still extremely important in Mexico.

Yes, obviously there is. But you have a very important advantage—you produce in Mexico in large volumes, and that's important. I think that's one of the advantages that gives us the affection of the Mexican people. It's not only the production cost, but also the spare parts are almost all produced in Mexico. So when you have an issue with your car and want to take it for after-sales, you find the part immediately, and the service is very fast and very economical. So that's part of the value proposition we offer as Nissan.

We consider it probable and we're already planning for it, but we don't believe the country will shut down 100 percent again. I think there will be intermittent closures, so as I said, I think we have to learn to live with this, learn from past experience, but I wouldn't bet on a complete shutdown again.

Yes, we're at that level and growing. We already export a lot to the US—almost 60 percent of our exports. We export to 80 markets. So we're in a growth process and already exceeding 70, 80 percent, so it's going quite well. I think in the coming months we'll have more installed capacity ready for exports.

Yes, but as I said, what's important for us—I tell my team—is not just being number one in terms of numbers, but that people are happy with the cars, that they have good resale value, good after-sales service, and that they're satisfied with the car. That's what matters.

No, thank you very much. It's a pleasure for me to have this meeting, this interview. And I think the important thing is—there's something I tell my team and what I'm doing now. I'm having meetings, working from home practically, I rarely go to the office. But you should never waste a crisis, because a crisis teaches you a lot. Sometimes people see it with bad eyes, but I think it's the precise moment to become more powerful, stronger, and to take advantage of adversities.