Nissan Reinvigorates in Saudi Market

Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – Nissan has unveiled plans to build on its 60 year history in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by renewing the bond with its people through an ambitious growth program. Unveiled at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Riyadh, to an audience of VIPs and media, Nissan outlined a structured growth strategy spanning the next four years. The announcement encompassed all key aspects of the brand’s offering, approach, objectives and initiatives. 

Chief among the targets Nissan has set itself is being consistently in the top three rankings for customer service excellence in the Kingdom by FY16. Reinforcing that commitment, Nissan also revealed a world premiere for the brand: the opening of the first New Retail Concept Showroom.

Speaking at the press conference, Trevor Mann, Chief Performance Officer and Executive Vice President of Nissan Motor Company, said: “Nissan’s global mid-term plan, Power88, is to reach eight per cent operating profit and eight per cent market share by FY16. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a strategic part of this plan, making it a highly valued market for Nissan. In order to service at best Nissan customers across the country, our plan is to strengthen our position with a direct presence through the establishment of a Saudi-based Nissan Distribution Joint Venture company.”

Toru Hasegawa, Corporate Vice President Nissan Motor Company, said: “Our ambition for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is clear: we must grow rapidly through the brand’s direct presence to best serve our customers’ needs in this very important market. We have set ourselves challenging targets to reach more than 12% market share equivalent to more than 100,000 units in FY16. We also have the ambition to be among the top three for customer service and to deploy a wide network with more than 60 outlets across the Kingdom. Those showrooms will offer Nissan’s full model range, already the broadest of any manufacturer in the region, but we will build on this with the introduction of a further eight new vehicles in the next three years.”

Samir Cherfan – Managing Director of Nissan Middle East, said: “In September, we announced a new beginning for Nissan’s offering to customers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - today we share how we will deliver this to them. We will steadily build our customer-focused network, based on three key pillars: a quality network of dealers with a KSA-wide presence; our full range of innovative and exciting models will be available; and we will deliver the promise of the Nissan brand experience. 

“To underline our commitment we will immediately bring the best of Nissan to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. That starts with the opening in Riyadh of Nissan’s first New Retail Concept globally – our groundbreaking showroom which brings an exciting new design and level of engagement to our customers. We’ll then build on this with competitions highlighting our heritage; the introduction of Nissan GT Academy; and the revival of ActionHa.

“Nissan is bringing its full brand power with it as it renews its bond with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

Implementation of the first phase of Nissan’s plan has already begun following the appointment of Alissa Auto in September. With more than 60 years of experience in the Kingdom’s automotive market and one of its leading players, Nissan’s strategic distribution partner will have 18 sales outlets, 19 service outlets and 27 parts selling points by end of December this year. 

It’s through this expanding network, supported by Nissan trained and qualified technicians, that the full model line-up will be sold. At the occasion of today’s press conference, Nissan introduced the Kingdom to the new 2014 model year Nissan Patrol, the latest generation of the Hero of All Terrain, with a complete refreshed design.

Nissan Patrol will also be one of the highlights of a unique competition to be run in conjunction with MBC across its TV, radio and online channels over ten weeks. Targeting Nissan Patrol, Altima, Pathfinder, Sunny, Maxima, 370Z and even GT-R owners in the Kingdom, the oldest example to be brought to the Alissa showroom will be replaced with a brand new, 2014 model year version of that model. In total, 17 all-new Nissan cars will be won over the course of the competition.

“While far-reaching in its detail, our plan is based on the simple approach of returning to Nissan’s core strengths: an accessible, high-quality dealer network supplying our complete range of vehicles,” said Cherfan. “As we build towards that objective, we will ensure our customers get the real Nissan brand experience, one which has made us one of the most popular manufacturers across the Middle East. We look forward to growing our renewed presence in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”