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Nissan team pushes a hemispheric approach; Recruits from Honda and Toyota expand company's horizon.

Article Excerpt
Byline: Lindsay Chappell

Nissan Motor Co.'s new North American manufacturing management looks remarkably like its competition.

Nissan is preparing for a significant shift in how its U.S.-based business works. But in building its next-generation management team, Nissan has recruited from archrivals Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co.

And at a time when CEO Carlos Ghosn is trying to stoke the fire on Nissan's bogged-down global revitalization, Nissan's Tennessee manufacturing team will go from North American to "hemispheric.'' The team's responsibilities will be stretched to include markets and factories across the Western Hemisphere.

Over the next two to five years, engineers in Smyrna will help launch vehicles in Brazil and Argentina. The group will coordinate with Nissan and Renault suppliers in Mexico and South America. They will buy parts in new markets, including Brazil, for vehicles made in Tennessee, Mississippi and Mexico.

Smyrna's product quality efforts will extend to Nissan and Renault operations in South America. They also will oversee South American plants that eventually will build Nissan or Renault vehicles for other markets, including the United States.

It's a different business model than Nissan has followed for the past 25 years of making vehicles in the United States. It is even different from the business model Nissan crafted in 1998 when the Smyrna company became Nissan North America Inc. and assumed oversight of Nissan's small plants in Mexico.

Ford and Toyota

To manage the latest evolution, even the cultural influences of Nissan's top U.S. managers have changed.

Since Nissan started building its first...