Nissan Motor Co. CEO Carlos Ghosn speaks to the media during the 2015 New York International Auto Show on Thursday. Ghosn said Nissan plans to launch self-driving cars in Japan in 2016. | BLOOMBERG
Carlos Ghosn, the CEO of Nissan stated at a press conference that “there will be a Nissan product in Japan, which will carry autonomous drive”.
Nissan has set a time line of 2016, to use their five year partnership with NASA to develop the newly emerging autonomous driving technology. By 2020, the ability to navigate seamlessly though busy city traffic is hoped to be achieved. All this is going to be achieved step by step because “to persuade the regulators [of different countries] that you can take your hands off the wheel or your eyes from the road is going to take a lot of demonstration”, and with emphasis still on having “zero emission”.
Relating to “Porter’s Generic Strategies” which was discussed in previous lectures, Nissan’s strategy can be interpreted as a “Differentiation Strategy”. The product Nissan promises offers “unique attributes that are valued by customers”, such as complex functions of the vehicle and zero emission technologies.
Nissan will be successful in its differentiation strategy because they meet the Porter’s criteria and have important internal strengths such as access to leading scientific research and a highly skilled and creative product development team due to their partnership with NASA. They also have a strong sales team due to their already established brand and a corporate reputation for quality and innovation due to their consumer perceived “reliable” vehicles and innovative products such as the Nissan Leaf.
Sources:
[1] http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/04/03/business/corporate-business/nissan-launch-self-driving-car-japan-2016-ghosn-says/#.VhCIwxNVikq
[2] http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/generic.shtml