Toyota 50th celebration website....

[hls30.com]

26th,

I wasn't criticizing, I didn't say he hasn't done what he was paid to do, nor that he hasn't spent any money, only that he considers Involvement with the ZCCA outside of those actions that are a part of what he came to do. Once again, He is smart enough not to pay someone for something they will do anyway.

Will

[Carl Beck]

Gnosez,

I was there for the "retrun-on-investment" speach. That guy is no longer with Nissan BTW. What surprised me most was that the ZCCA took it lying down and didn't tar-n-feather the guy and throw him out on the street. As you pointed out, the parking lot was packed with ROI. I thought the guy had a lot of gall. He also made a comment about how "race on Sunday - sell on Monday" didn't work. Excuse me? What I thought was too bad was that no one from the ZCCA challenged the guy.

Hi Chris/Gnosez (everyone):

Same Old - Same Old.

I was there in 1996 for the "creditability" comment. ZCCA Borad meeting at the Annual ZCCA Convention in Denver.

The rep. from Nissan at that time was patting the ZCCA on the head for their efforts when he said; {I paraphrase..cjb}.... It's good that you have gathered several clubs together, to approach Nissan with one voice - it gives you the creditability you need.

Like you Chris - I was amazed that no one from the ZCCA said squat. I was only a guest at the meeting and not a member of the ZCCA, so I remained quite in the meeting. After the meeting I pulled our friend from Nissan aside and told him what I thought.

I said; excuse me, but it is Nissan that is loosing money, it is Nissan that lost market share in America for the past 10 years, it is Nissan that need to establish creditability with US at this point. The attitude that Customers must somehow establish creditability with Nissan is exactly why Nissan is going broke today. He replied that he hadn't meant it that way- only that he thought it was a good idea to ban together... I replied that yes I understood that - but did he understand his attitude and that of Nissan seemed to show though all their words and actions.. intended or not.

The ZCCA can't really say anything - because they have one hand out for Nissan's funding - and the other over the mouths of their member clubs.

As I've said before - it is really hard to tell Nissan that they are doing anything wrong at this point. Huge turn-around, high profit per unit, stock prices up, and the partnership with Renault is one of the very few corporate arrangements that has ever been made to work - maybe the only one.

Nissan's profits and sales were down for 2006 about 22% from the prior year.. maybe if that happens again in 2007 - they will be a little more receptive to improving Customer Relations.

Nonetheless - Nissan quite following the Total Quality Management Path somewhere around 1980... while Toyota continued on... I don't see Nissan's corporate culture changing much in the near future.

As an aside - my neighbor went to the Toyota Dealer day before yesterday, with the intention of buying a new Toyota Forerunner.... two hours of being jacked around by the sales staff.. and she walked out.. Went to the Mazda Dealer the next day - and bought an RX-7 Crossover in 15 minutes... The point being that it's not just the Factory - the Dealer Chains play an equally large roll in all this...

FWIW,

Carl B.

[gnosez]

Carl/26th - whether intentional or not Nissan has really stuck to its' message all these years. Given the arse kissing that ZCCA thought it had to do after Mr. K sent his public letter critical of Nissan's decision to move to Nashville, I doubt Nissan believes that the ZCCA is in a position to counter any moves Nissan wishes to make. That the ZCCA has never stood up when comments by Nissan officials are made they most likely think we are all a bunch of wussies. Once Mr. K is no longer a force what will Nissan's position be towards the Z community? Not good I would think.

I would like to see that stop and I would be very open to suggestions as to how we (the Z community) get Nissan's attention. I am leaning towards the SportZ mag approach of going all Nissan and bringing together all the owner's clubs. An all Nissan convention in Nashville in 2010?

And how do we get Nissan to see that their past can also be their future by using the aura of "Datsun"? What is with it with these guys? I was asked to manage a complex policy project in the early 90s involving the development of an environmental plan for the Mexican-US border area. Without the plan the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement - US/Mexico/Canada) sign-off by the US Congress would not have happenned. After a series of meetings in the US and Mexico things were not going as well as I would have liked to say it mildly and at the end of one long day I took the floor and told the attendees that we did not need to wait on Darwinian evolutionary events to take place to make this plan a reality. That we needn't wait to grow bigger brains to come up with the necessary solutions. That we had all the resources right in that room or in rooms like it all over North America.

Nissan could reach back and bring its' rich and hard won heritage into the 21st century. It can show potential new Nissan owners that Nissan like Porsche, BMW, etc. too have been there and done that. That cars made by Nissan/Datsun are still winning races, restored and loved by collectors, and driven day in and day out by folks all over the world.

Give me control of a portion of Nissan marketing ad budget for one year.....