Carlos Ghosn has been touted as the best automotive executive in the world by more than a few analysts for the remarkable turnaround he managed with Nissan a few years back. The company hit a slew of pie-in-the-sky objectives, amazing industry insiders and the press alike. 2006, however, has not been magical for Carlos and the Nissan brand, with stagnating sales and now disappointing profits. For the fiscal 3rd quarter, Nissan ended up with profits that were down 22% to $870 million. While that would be terrific for some companies, Nissan has had the highest overall margin of any large-volume automaker in the recent past. Nissan has also stumbled in sustaining the incredible growth from earlier in the decade, with sales down 4.2% in 2006 for the brand.
To nip this 'performance crisis' in the bud, Mr. Ghosn has decided to take this issue very seriously. He has expressed his assurance that 2007 will be a much better year than 2006, and sales volume and profits will be up. Ghosn won't hear any more merger or alliance talk either, as the only focus for 2007 will be righting the tight ship that he himself had rebuilt only a few years ago. Lets see if Mr. Ghosn can pull yet another rabbit out of his hat. We would advise against betting against him.
[Source: The Detroit News]
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