Celicamaro

I think he is, don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking the man, I'm 150% sure the dude is very good at what he does, the result from both Nissan and Infiniti sales speaks for itself. But still I just don't think he's as good as what the media has made him out to be.

Nissan was already a great company, they can do just about anything Toyota, Honda and all the other smaller japanese makes can. But their styling sukks! From Nissan models all the way to Infiniti. There's nothing wrong with the cars technically, they're actually better than Lexus and Acura in many ways when performance is concern and on par in the reliability department, unfortunately they're wrapped in exterior styling that turned potential customers away. I'd blame that on management cuz after over a decade of boring and weirdly proportioned vehicles, there's no way Nissans franchises can go on sustaining itself so ends up in the red. The only Nissan Vehicles I remember that had great stylings were the 300ZXTT and Infiniti Q45(JDM models excluded). Two small volume sellers just can't save the company.

So along comes Renault/Carlos, a little nip here a little tuck there and Voila....it's like night and day difference. In only a few years, Nissans starts making loads of money, overtakes Honda as Japans number 2 volume seller and with many azz kicking vehicles on the way, public and media perception about Nissan/Infiniti does a 180. I read a while back an interview where Carlos himself has said that Nissans problem were minor internal stuff and easily fixed. He was right.

Nissan's original management teams just didn't quite know what they were doing and were too insecure about the directions Infiniti should take. Lexus however knew what it set out to do and held on to it like a pit bull. Whatever exterior they lacked, they made up with a superior interior accomodations and refinement. While still above average, Infiniti excel in neither.

After many years of comtemplating and with Infiniti as a good example, I've come to the conclusion that prestige and image is all in the styling. Lexus has the same boring, bland, unexciting exterior styling that Infiniti has and don't stand the test of time very well when compared to the Euros. That's why the polls show Lexus above Acura (which is also generally bland) but still below Merc and BMW. When people talk about passion, most of the time, they meant how hot the car looks, not how comfortable it is to sit in or how quiet. All the classic and highly sought after vehicles in history has had great styling regardless of how crappy they perform or how unreliable they were. Ferraris and Lambos also rely greatly on styling to succeed. They ain't much if not for their ultra cool jet fighter looks. I think this had alot to do with European auto makers putting great emphasis on styling, their designers are allowed more freedom to create well proportion and fully finished looking cars. There vehicles are head and shoulders above everyone else in looks year after year. People notice these kinds of things on the road. So after many decades, prestige automatically comes with it. Of course overpricing the vehicle has some to do with it too, but it's not as big of an impact as styling IMO.

While it takes time to build a good reputation, it doesn't take much for it to be taken away. Imagine if the Euros start putting styling further down the development list. Prestige will drop like a bomb, look at what the the bangle thing has done to BMW. If they sat there and didn't do jack about it like Nissan, they will surely meet similar results Nissan has. The same is also true for Merc, If they run into controversial styling problems before overcoming it's current quality issues, it's in big trouble. Snoby kids in bimmers will be laughed at by Civic guys and gold digger chicks will run and hide(even they got standards).

The Japanese makers are too scared that americans maynot accept bold and confident styling from Asia(and to a great extent they're right to be cautious) so their vehicles end up looking like it needs a body kit or taller and wider rims just to look complete. But with the next gen Lexuses, I think these problems will slowly be overcome and 4 yrs from now if polls were conducted again, I'm very sure the results will change in Lexus and Infintis favor.

The reason I think styling is everything is cuz that's the first thing people see and remembers you by. Like they say, cloths make the man. It also makes the woman too, that's why they spent hours and hours shopping for the right piece that'll get us drooling so we'll fork out the cash. I like picking up chicks for quick one night stands, and great looking cars softens them up better than just about anything else.

I use to think BMW was the key and didn't want to drive my mr2 to certain places for fear that the wrong people might goof on me. But after a nice kit, great looking wheels, new paint job and a proper drop, car starts looking like a little Ferrari. No matter where I go, young, old, middle age, black, white, asians, latinos, you name it all give me thumbs up. BWM and Merc car guys don't sweat me anymore, they actually like the car and welcomes me to their crews. The only time I sweat is when I run into Supra guys with 600+HP, Vettes and Vipers. Eventhen those guys are cool with the little Mr.2 because of the way it looks. Not to brag about the mr2, but I think cars like 350Z, G35, SupraTT, RX7TT, SC400/430 all have the same effect if not more as BMW or Merc does to regular bystanders. People think you're either rich, have great taste or is really cool when you drive a cool looking car. IS, GS, LS, TL,RL and G35 sedans however doesn't seem to have the same effect.

Back in the days when we were street racing, people knew me by the car, they didn't care to know my name, the car is more important than the person. When we were running from the cops, I would get a shstload of modified cars following me everywhere I'd tried to hide cuz they think the dude with the cool car knows where he's going eventho I'm just as lost as they were. In the rare occasions when we got busted, it was an honor for them to get busted along with the cool car. To this very day I still get complete strangers come up to shake my hand and ask me how the mr2 was doing and thanks for saving their azzes from getting a citation for street racing.

So to me, Styling is everything and that's what saved Nissans azz and made Carlos a hero. The real test if Carlos lives up to the hype is to let him run GM, Ford or Daimler Chrysler and see if he can get the same results he did for Nissan. Personally I highly doubt it, but lets hear y'alls take on the man.

LexFather

Now this is going to be a great thread. I have to run and will reply more later. I will say I totally disgree with styling, while Lexus IS timeless and simply of incredible quality (paint/fit etc) the other 2 are not. The SC 300/400 was very bold at the time, as the GS 300/400. The RX 300 invented the car SUV and is copied left and right. People clearly stole the "altezzas" from Lexus. Even on the interiors, the electroluminicent/optrion gauges are now used by others.

Has the LS every been a style leader, No and I think that is where the misperception that Le xus is bland in styling comes in (since its the flagship). Even the SC430 is a love/hate item that provokes emotion and the LX 470 is the only SUV with split headlamps.

More later

b1gredek

reading this made me think of way back then when i first streetraced and there were a few turbo mr2s out there that would spank on supras....................

Xenthar

I dont think hes overrated. He deserves the praise he is getting because he revived a company that was on the brink of failing. His three year plan to revive infiniti and nissan was accomlished in two years. Sales are just picking up more and more and i can only see even better things for nissan and infiniti. With his help, nissan and infiniti came back with a bang from years of bad sales.

I do agree with some of that other stuff you stated about styling though

mmarshall

Is he overrated? Yes and no. There is no question that he has done a good job financially with Nissan, and Nissan / Infiniti V6 engines are some of the best in the industry, but at what cost? Cheap, flimsy interiors, so-so fit and finish, questionable styling, and a new plant in Mississippi that has turned out unreliable vehicles. To his credit, though, unlike the people running BMW, Ghosn has understood the mistakes he and his company have made, accepted criticism for it, and is working to try and address them.

b1gredek

infiniti had cheap interiors but now that they are making money, their interiors are so much better now, take the g35 for example, the 05 models looks so much better with their new interiors, at least they have taken advantage of the fact that they are now making money and in exchange giving us better vehicles, i think he did an excellent job....... i dont see how u can call him over rated with what he did to nissan/infiniti

Celicamaro

Keep in mind, we're talking about Nissan and not GM. Nissan as I've pointed out is already a great company, if there's anyone that can rival Toyota, it's Nissan. That's why they're Japans number 2 manufacturor. They've lost that spot to Honda a while back becuase of all those bland looking vehicles I've pointed out and now they're back to being number 2 again and didn't take that long at all. GM and Ford is a different story, I don't think Carlos can do much for them, he'd probably get lost in the shuffle. I'd like to see Carlos help Mitsubishi cuz I don't want to see them discontinue the next gen EVO.

LexFather

You made a great point about the styling. Iceman said it great when describing the new Nissan "expensive, but cheap".
They have done a TREMENDOUS job of making the cars more expensive to buy but much cheaper to make. Just sit inside one for 10 seconds. And the styling is a big key, Nissans now, do look different from what most other companies offer and it has worked well.

The other part is parts sharing. They have done it and done it well. The public doesn't seem to care that they all are pretty much driving the same car. Even the M45 is a big 350Z. Its amazing but the platforms are flexible and do offer sport with the only drawback being weight.

Ghosen did what needed to be done. Cut the fat from Nissan. they went from 24 platforms, with only 1 making money, to I think 6 or 8 platforms (shared with Renault). That saves billions of dollars. He cut plants etc etc.

Now as for the revival, well you also have to say, they were doing so poorly, that ANYTHING was an improvment. But they are far beyond that, they are very profitable now and Nissan now has a buzz in the public, which they did not have before Ghosen. Bringing back the Z was a GREAT move.

I think GM would LOVE to do what Nissan has done.

Blackraven

Mr. Ghosn has been doing a lot to save Nissan's @$$ from bankruptcy. The "Le Cost Killer" did what he had to do. He raised the image of Nissan over the past two years with launching of the revival plan (Nissan 180). Why 180?

1 = to sell 1 Million cars (this was already accomplishmed last year)
8% = to at least achieve an 8% growth (even better, they now enjoy a growth margin of 12%)
0 = to have absolute ZERO debt (which they were able to achieve a few months back).



Now, they launched Nissan Value-up, a mid-term plan for the company. Aside from that, they launched a new regional headquarters in Singapore designed to expand its Asia-Pacific operations.



And in Singapore (though I'm not from there), Tan Chong motor plans to introduce 6 new models for the Singaporean market (3 of them have been launched): the Presage, the Latio Sport, Latio Sedan, the Lafesta, the Note, the Murano crossover SUV and the Nissan Fuga (maybe sold as an Infiniti M).


They plan to regain the spot as Singapore's #1 car brand which was stolen from Borneo Motors (sells Toyota and Lexus vehicles).


Overall, the future is still good for Nissan.

mmarshall

GM has been doing EXACTLY that for years, Mike..............cheap interiors.

Also like Nissan, GM is starting to rectify that. However, unlike Nissan, GM still has not gotten a complete handle on production costs.