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Nissan's dismal 2019: Where does Japan's struggling brand go from here?

Auto sales have gradually slowed from their peak during the boom years that followed the global recession, but Nissan's rapid decline stood out even in a year when few high-volume manufacturers had much to be excited about.  Of the "Japanese 3," Nissan's 2019 performance was by far the most troubling. Through November, when the company last posted its global sales figures, its volumes were down 8 percent compared to 2019. Here in the United States, its full-year numbers were down 9.9% in an industry that slid just a hair more than 2 percent overall.  Meanwhile, Honda managed a slight increase in U.S. sales (0.2%) and Toyota, much like the industry in general, finished the year down approximately 2%. Like Nissan, Honda and Toyota have remained committed to cars — including compact and midsize sedans — and have a comprehensive portfolio of offerings in the key SUV and crossover segments.   On paper, Nissan's lineup checks all the right boxes. From the subcompact Kicks up to the Armada, it has something for sale in virtually every possible nook and cranny of the people-mover segment, but almost all of these trucks (and trucklets) took a beating in 2019. Only the baby Kicks managed to improve on its 2018 sales, which isn't saying a whole lot, considering it was barely sold in 2018 to begin with.  In fact, the bonus volume contributed by Kicks helps obscure just how poorly some of Nissan's key offerings performed last year. Combined Rogue and Rogue Sport sales slid 15%; Murano was down more than 18%; the Pathfinder and Armada managed to pace the general industry, dropping 2.8 and 1.9%, respectively, but the astute reader will note at this point that we've yet to single out any bright spots. The news was even worse on the truck side. Frontier was down 9.1%. Titan? Down 37.5%. Crossovers and SUVs are selling. Trucks, even from import brands, are also selling. Toyota's mid-size Tacoma was up in 2019; both it and the full-size Tundra still more than tripled the volume of their Nissan competitors. Further muddying the waters, Honda managed its year-over-year volume increase without selling a full-sized pickup at all.  What, then, is Nissan's problem? To borrow an oft-used phrase, "It's the product, stupid." The most striking evidence of this issue is the Rogue, which competes in the compact crossover segment — a collection of vehicles that essentially sell themselves.

Nissan adds 500 jobs in Mississippi for Murano production [w/video]

Nissan is bolstering its workforce at its Canton, MS factory, adding 500 workers for this fall's production kickoff of the heavily redesigned Murano crossover.
"The addition of Murano to our portfolio, coupled with the continued growth and success of the Canton plant, will move us even closer to our goal to build more than 85 percent of the vehicles we sell in the US right here in North America," said senior vice president of manufacturing, supply chain management and purchasing for Nissan's North American ops, John Martin.
The Murano will eventually be exported to over 100 markets and will be built alongside the current Xterra, Frontier, Titan and Armada. The addition of 500 jobs to the Canton facility elevates its total workforce past 6,000 people.

Nissan settles with FTC over misleading dune buggy ad [w/videos]

A couple years ago, Nissan created a series of commercials for its compact Frontier pickup showing the truck performing outlandish stunts such as snowboarding, saving a passenger airplane from a crash landing and climbing a steep sand dune to help a stranded dune buggy. As crazy as the first two commercials were, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took issue with the latter, titled Hill Climb, with the agency considering it to be a misleading commercial since both vehicles required a cable to reach the top of the steep dune.
As such, Ad Age is reporting that Nissan - and its ad agency TBWA Worldwide - has settled with the FTC over the ad despite the fact that it features a disclaimer stating: "Fictionalization. Do not attempt." Nissan did not have to pay out any money in the settlement, but it is prohibited "from using potentially misleading demonstrations in future advertisements for pickups." In addition to the offending commercial, posted below, we've included some of the other related videos from the same Frontier campaign.