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Nissan corporate vice president Michael Colleran briefed Yahoo Finance on the latest news on Nissan from the automaker’s Mississippi plant.
Video transcript
SEANA SMITH: Nissan begins production on its all-new 2022 Frontier production, which starts at its intended destination in Mississippi. We want to bring in Mike Colleran. He is senior vice president and general manager of Nissan North America. Mike, it’s good to see you. I know this is a very big day for you and for Nissan. So congratulations on getting the first factory vehicles out there in Mississippi. But just tell us what that means, what we can expect from the new Frontier, and also what it means for us in terms of Nissan’s turnaround strategy going forward.
MICHAEL COLLERAN: OKAY. First of all, Seana and Adam, thank you for inviting me on the show and having Nissan on the show. It’s a big day for Nissan. First, we are starting production of the all new ’22 Frontier model year. It’s an iconic brand here in America. And we’re excited to put it back on the road. It is also a day when we make a renewed commitment to the State of Mississippi and its people and the 5,000 men and women who work here today. So the new Frontier, very exciting to come back to the market. It’s a sturdy truck. You can see from the design here that it’s beautiful, big, sturdy, durable, connected. Has all the technology you could dream of in a brand new vehicle.
I just drove one the other day. It’s an incredible all-terrain vehicle. Odor control, everything an off-road buyer could want. But also all the things that a fleet buyer or a commercial buyer would want too. So durable, capable and a great new truck for the market.
– Michael, I loved your products. My first big boy’s car was a four-door Nissan Altima many years ago. But I have to ask you about the truck. While still on gasoline? Are there any plans to bring this to an EV? Because we see a lot of manufacturers moving in that direction. Ford is having great success with the F-150 All Electric.
MICHAEL COLLERAN: So Nissan is all about EV. there is no doubt. We just announced EV 360 last week, which is a triumviral partnership outside of Europe between us, our battery supplier, AESC, and Sunderland, and the UK government. And that will involve a whole new electric vehicle, all electric, an SUV, a 100% renewable microgrid. So sustainable energy for the future. And 6,200 new jobs.
But also, we’ll be bringing the all-new Aria next spring. It’s a battery-powered electric SUV. Refined, fast, 300 miles of range, everything the American consumer wants in an EV. So it’s the right thing to do for the market. And so we’re going to bring a whole host of electric vehicles into the future. But in this particular segment, internal combustion is the norm and will be for several years. So it makes perfect sense to launch with a best-in-class 310 horsepower V6.
SEANA SMITH: Mike, let’s talk about the global chip shortage. Because it doesn’t just impact your business, it obviously impacts the industry as a whole. How is Nissan dealing with this headwind? And I guess how do you plan to tackle this daunting challenge that not only your business will be facing over the next few months?
MICHAEL COLLERAN: This is an excellent question. And that’s the one that’s very relevant in the industry today, Seana. The first thing you really need to do is work hand in hand with your supply chain. And we do it every day. We have excellent partners there. And it’s a bit of a Rubik’s cube that gets the right ship into the right module, the right assembly at the right time, and gets it to the factory in time to build the unit. We did, I think, a better job than average. Granted, our daily deal is a bit better than most. So, this is really a lot of hard work.
As we move into the fall, this situation will start to ease. And supply and demand will normalize. And as we move into the latter part of the year, we’ll start to see the shortage disappear.
– I realize that the past is not an indicator of what exactly will happen in the future. But who was Frontier’s main demo? And will this individual be the new demo, do you think?
MICHAEL COLLERAN: Well I think when you say pickup in America it really concerns everyone. Our previous buyer for the old truck was a commercial buyer in some cases. He was a fleet buyer in some cases. And in some cases, it was just the person who needed a little more utility in their daily transport. It really doesn’t change anything here. We will always have an excellent commercial offer, an excellent fleet offer. And of course, for that shopper who needs everyday utility, this truck is about as good as it gets.
SEANA SMITH: Mike Colleran, congratulations. Once again, a great day for Nissan. Thank you for taking the time to join us. Senior Vice President and General Manager of Nissan North America.
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