Bonus: Autocar Meets Nissan's James Taylor

Welcome to a bonus episode of the AutoCar Podcast, AutoCar Meets. It's brought to you

in association with Anderson EV makers of premium domestic car chargers. There's still

time if you mention to them the My Week in Cars podcast before the end of October to

obtain £50 off an order. Visit Anderson-ev.com for more details. This week our Deputy Editor

Felix Page meets Nissan UK's Managing Director James Taylor. Felix, all yours.

This afternoon getting a little bit of an insight into what's coming about the year that's been,

a time of diversification, expansion for Nissan and a time of renewal I think. You've been there

now for five months joined from Voxel. How's it been? Let's start with a simple one. What's

the first five months been like? Yeah, it's been really good. A really strong team, again very good

support from the network as well. Joining as you say at a good time because we're just on this

cusp of real product expansion, moving from four models in the range through to eight models in

the range over the next 18 months or so. It's good time to join. The team has made me feel super

welcome and within weeks it felt like I've always been there. Really enjoying it so far.

Did you get that there's this cliche when someone joins a company in the midst of renewal,

there's this bulging intro metaphor that's always banding around. Did you feel like you

got there and there was this massive stack of things to do? I think there's always lots to do

just because the industry is going through such a change. I guess there's two big challenges in

the short term. One is electrification and the switch to electric and the Zeb mandate. Obviously

the second is the new level of competition in the marketplace that if we went back probably even

two years just wasn't at the level it's at today. Again, with I guess all brands, similar challenges,

similar market segments, but those kind of macro challenges are very much in everyone's

entrails. Yeah of course and you're not alone in confronting a new wave of rivals right across

the spectrum. We've got rivals right in the most affordable parts of the market and coming in at

the top end as well. You've got people like Porsche facing up to new rivals from China and that

sort of thing. But in that context, how do you think Nissan is perceived in the UK at the moment?

What is the perception around that brand? Does it need to change? Have you done anything to

change it so far? In terms of coming in from the fresh from the outside, I think the brand is in

a very strong position. If you look at some of the marketing metrics or some of the web metrics,

also if you just look at the range of vehicles we sell within each product,

it really just kind of the fundamentals of a strong brand are there. If we look at our search

levels, number one for Search for Small SUV, number one for Search for Large SUV. We've got a real

powerful brand platform to build on. One thing that I'm very passionate about is supporting the UK

and I really enjoy working for companies that invest heavily in the UK and going up to Sundance

in the passion of all the people up there in the plant as well. It was really inspiring and again

it's our job to make sure that we take those cars to market at the most appropriate wine.

The Sunderland factory is responsible for one of the best headlines we ever ran in auto car,

which was a factory visit story with the headline, they don't mac them like that.

It's sublime. But that British element, we've been talking about it a bit earlier today.

It's easy to forget really just how ingrained into British automotive Nissan really is. You've

got the engineering centre at Cranfield, the London design studio which has global reach in

terms of what it does. Obviously the factory in Sundance which is the UK's biggest. Is that an

important marketing tool? Do you think people are starting to value Britishness again? Yeah,

I think there's always that anger. You read anything in terms of surveys and it'll tell you

that a relatively high proportion of the population value buying things local, value buying things

that are built in Britain etc. So that is very much something in the marketing mix. We have to

remember we're a Japanese brand primarily and all the strengths that go along with being a

Japanese brand. But you would have seen some of the marketing we did on the New Cascade power for

example over the last month. We've got that design built love by Britain kind of part of the marketing

mix now to just try and reinforce that the fact that we are that big employer, we are the UK's

biggest producer of cars, will be the biggest producer of electric cars in the UK as well.

And I think that is important to bring. That's really interesting isn't it? Because obviously

previously it bowed out over a year ago now I think and it was the UK's most produced EV.

Currently I think by my reckoning the only electric car being produced here is a £450,000

Rolls Royce. So how does a leaf fit in? You're bringing mass EV manufacturing back to the UK.

That's sort of a huge responsibility to have as well. It is obviously there's a significant

investment gone into both extending the plant to make that ready for new leaf. That's happening.

First vehicles are going around the line. Also a significant investment up there as well for

the new battery plant that sits opposite the manufacturing plant. So significant investment.

Leaf we're really looking forward to and lots of reasons for that. Obviously we've got all the

heritage first car to be in its third generation globally for an EV. A lot of learning is obviously

to take from the millions of miles our customers have driven in electric vehicles so far that

we've really tried to put into this car. But also it's kind of the cusp of some of the new

technologies as well, V2L and vehicle to grid. And I think there are things that we can really

explore going forwards where the car becomes more than just a mobility again you from A to B.

It becomes kind of part of your home ecosystem effectively. So there's a real opportunity to

kind of make leaf bigger than just a car as well as all that British angle as well.

Do you think people, I mean obviously it's been a while since you could buy a brand new leaf in

the UK and where the first leaf was one of the pioneers of electric vehicles,

the second one had a bit more of a competitive field to stand in and the third one certainly

will. But do you think people still associate that name with electric vehicle spearheading

pioneering? Yeah I think so. If you look at the search metrics now we spend a lot of time on that

with Google. It's still up there very much at the top of its segment for search. So that tells us

that very much leaf is in people's psyche. I mean I also think natural name of the car leaves quite

a good name for an electric car personally but that's probably by the by. So I think that kind

of ingrained search awareness is unseen as a pioneer. As I say I think in terms of those new

technologies as well in terms of V2G we could be a pioneer again in that kind of next step for

electric vehicles. So we're super excited, can't come soon enough but now dealer roadshow starting

literally next week where people can go and look at the car. So we're very much nearly there.

Obviously huge implications for your EV mix as well which is you know crucial in the UK now

with the ZED EV mandate but it's one of two hot new EVs that you bring to market at the same time

giving us plenty to write about at the moment. You've got the micro. Do you think that that will

do quite a lot to sort of democratise electric vehicles in a way? With the ECG that's 21 and a

half seconds. Yeah so yeah obviously the micro gets the the £1,500 grant which is really welcome.

I think small cars obviously kind of the way electric still work into a degree is the bigger car,

bigger the segment, bigger the volume of opportunity. So probably leaf over the medium

terms of bigger volume opportunity that the micro just because of the market dynamics. I guess

critically for us we don't have another small car today so very much if you like the Nissan brand

that is the offering in terms of electric. So that will certainly help in terms of our ZED mandate

mix and we're launching four new electric cars and obviously then by the time we get to the end

of that period we'll have more electric cars in the range than we'll have ICE cars in the range

which will really support that transition over the coming years to make sure that we're hitting

those ZED mandate targets which we all want because we all want a cleaner greener future.

And to go with that transition you know the movement to electric power trains,

new styling language in all the cars, there's new technology on the dashboard all that sort of thing

is the profile of who buys a Nissan changing as well. I mean the micro of course is very closely

related to the Renault 5 which I think at the moment has an 84% conquest rate in the UK so 84%

buyers have not bought a Renault before. Did you anticipate similar? Do you hope for similar?

I think probably we're thinking more along the lines of 70-30 if we looked at kind of probably

micro and leaf. Certainly it's true for any electric car gets a much higher level of conquest

again partly because not all everyone's got an existing electric car in all the segments so if

you've got people who want an electric car and they buy a competitive brand they don't offer one

by definition they have to look elsewhere don't they? So it certainly will be a high level of

conquest. I think as well obviously you've got probably you're looking into more affluent households

as well so I think there's some dynamics there at play and certainly with micro I think I've

seemed to get to a younger audience as well than perhaps traditionally we've seen for new cars. So

again the cars all have different kind of places in the range appealing to slightly different

different segments. Can't really talk about PVs in the UK without mentioning the sort of

big gap between the mandated levels and the organic demand there is for electric vehicles.

So how do you manage that transition period? How do you get people to step from combustion

into entry? Yeah I think there's probably a few things we can do. I think firstly the retailer

network it's very very important and we've got a really strong and I think quite stable network

with a lot of experience and with Nissan a lot of experience with leaf previously so I think in

terms of then communicating with customers explaining the pros and cons of electric versus

eyes of the different models in the range you know for example a micro versus a juke or whether it's

a leaf versus a cash coin and they'll be able to present the the possibilities and the strengths

and weaknesses of both of both choices. So I think that's really important to get the dealers

ready and I guess passionate about electric again they've kind of been there once but now

we've had a little bit of a of a kind of plateau period now we've got to go again. So that's kind

of probably the first part second part is kind of number of models in the range and appealing to

different segments and that will also help from a Z-Mix. The car ground I think will also help in

time as well because I think we've all read about lunch theory but that little kind of incentive

that little thing to put you in the mind of thinking electric that will have I think a supporting

impact in terms of lead mix in general in the marketplace but I think the things like leaf

which is heading on up to almost 400 mile range yeah and we looked at electric in the past and

probably stepped back a couple of years you said oh what's the barriers well price in range

infrastructure well pricing obviously we all know electric cars have been very much coming down in

terms of being more competitive in their list prices versus their ice and equivalents range

once you're getting up towards 400 miles suddenly becomes obviously far less of an issue and obviously

the infrastructure is filling out albeit with the range of nearly 400 miles probably the infrastructure

is not quite as important as if you had a car with a range of 200 miles which is kind of where we were

probably two three years ago so I think those barriers are all you know gradually coming down

and again I just sense as well in the general kind of climate there's a little bit more positivity

around electric in the in the general media and kind of society in general I think went through

quite a negative went through a really positive phase when there was the petrol crisis and it

was like oh let's go and have an electric then it kind of wore in Ukraine price of electricity

went up it kind of moved back the other way things turned a little bit negative against

electric but I just sense now it's kind of coming back back in terms of the general balance of

media coverage a little bit more positive on electric and that will also have a knock-on effect

and of course as the market grows and every year you know there's literally hundreds of thousands

more EVs going on the roads the vast majority of those people are going to be advocates about

PV again if you look at what influences people friends of a family one of the big influences

in terms of what people choose to buy well that can obviously only it's almost like exponential

isn't it as you go through that curve of more people are hearing positive things around

electric and that can only be like let's say we want to clean the greener future so for me

that's only good for the for all of us yeah it does it feels like you can you can sense the

sort of cultural narrative around it changing a little bit there was the sort of loot and airport

car park fire era where everyone was getting ready to sort of jump on EVs but it does feel

like it's shifting and I think probably partly because of affordability you know the cost of

these cars is coming down and people are starting to see them as more logical alternatives to

what they were driving before you mentioned infrastructure that's a big that's going to

have a big part to play you've also got a new e-power hybrid power train coming to kashkai

launched already launched already launched already um moving around on the roads already

yeah yeah I think we I think we've just driven it uh auto car.co.uk for our impressions um

that it's sort of a it's a mix between an EV in a combustion car all right I'm not going to pretend

to know it's um again it's a hybrid but ultimately it only drives off electric

so you get all the benefits of EV driving so if you like single pedal driving which I do

very very easy you get the instant torque it's basically as virtually as quiet as an electric

car as well across the the speed ranges so you get all that benefit of kind of refinement

but if you don't have easy access to charging or you do a phenomenal amount of miles you're

really high real world mpg so WLTPs in the low 60s but depending on exactly how you drive

you could do better than that what do you think that'll do you know if someone drives that car

having not driven an electric car before as you say it drives notionally like an electric car do

you think that genuinely could convince someone to get over any sort of reservations they've got

around electric cars yeah I think I think again I was again I'm super passionate about you need

to get people in the car so again from a network perspective one of the things we've really got

work on once we get micro and leaf is yeah we need more courtesy because it's electric so people

are coming in and servicing their two three year olds e-power cashline last generation you know

they get to experience electric because again you can't underestimate people's kind of perception

of electric very scared of it and many people this this came up before don't like the idea of an

automatic which is hot isn't it because we all think that's easy yeah we all love autos but a lot

of people have driven manuals all their lives suddenly that's a big barrier to change but if

you can then put them into an environment with them we've got about charging because they've

only got to take it over and bring it back come on and pick the car at the end of the day I think

things like that really help overcome the barriers to move and move into electric the new e-power as

well I think it's of that electric driving style again if you get the opportunity to drive it again

it gives you that feel for for electric so again I think all that is positive and I do think

we're on this just on this cusp of kind of that electric demand increasing again

Steve it's the most frustrating thing is when you know someone for whom an EV would be perfect

you sort of recommend it and they say oh no no I'm not ready to go into electric and you can

just imagine it you can imagine the charger on the side of their house and it's fitting very nicely

into their life but you know yeah I suppose as you say you need to get them into the cars and on

that subject of sort of you know consumer incentivization we spoke to you recently you said

that consumers needed incentives they've got them now you think that's put us on the path to

widespread adoption yeah I think I think it's certainly more than welcome you know I've been

speaking for a long time saying we've had some significant incentives for company car drivers

to choose electric cars and that's clearly worked a lot now majority of company cars are now

fully electric we're missing it for the private motorist and to degree you know that seemed a

imbalance so I think the fact we've now got that car grant is going to make a difference

I think it does make people start to think about electric where perhaps they wouldn't have done

previously and so I think yeah I think it would be positive it's early days I think in terms of

just exactly how much impact it's made in the short term but I think as more cars become confirmed

for the the grant things like leave obviously we anticipate are going to get the the full 3750

more cars get that all of a sudden I think then more people move towards electric and again as

the same more people drive more people have advocates you're on the exponential curve then

I think in terms of adoption yeah I guess it's like a cycle of advertising isn't it if you get the

first few people and they tell their friends it's brilliant they tell their friends it's brilliant

that sort of thing but it certainly feels like we've turned a corner right coming back more generally

to Nissan at a corporate level going through huge restructuring globally a big turnaround plan

with with new CEO in place how does that manifest in the UK you know what's what's what's the

situation on the ground yeah I think for us obviously yeah there's uncertainty and Nissan's

not alone in this is they many of I guess let's call them the legacy brands Western brands have

have a face in some sort of no reorganization to a greater or lesser degree and I think for

for me the big job is are we going to make the right decisions so we come out the other end

stronger I think we can see we're making some big decisions that that I think gives everybody

confidence that we're willing to make the right decisions to come out as a stronger company from

from the other side I think in terms of them what's it been going forward I think as ever

and I think we've seen all come car automotives tend to go in a cycle that when you're at this point

product becomes super super important and I think then you'll see that as the new products

fill out in the in the forthcoming period that you know wouldn't have brown strap lines defy

ordinary I think you'll start to see some cars that really do absolutely max out on that promise so

again probably can't say too much more right now but watch this space because I'm really

positive that it forces the right decisions to get that great product going forward.

I'll wait until the microphones are off to probe on that a bit deeper.

You talked about emerging a stronger brand what does that look like for you on a UK level you

know outright ambitions I'm not going to say you know where do you see yourself in five years but

no I think for us obviously we're we need to make sure that with electric and entering new segments

with the new models we're bringing that we're growing over all as a brand that's clear we

don't want to just stay the same size we need to grow I think from a network point of view

obviously there's a lot of cost pressure gone in in terms of labour costs etc ni living wage etc

obviously we've got the challenge of the move to electric where after sales revenue will also

decrease there's less things to go wrong there's things to replace etc so I think we need to grow

to support ourselves going forwards because the networks still are probably ripped to market

so very much I've got an ambition over the coming years that as we launch the new models

you know we mentioned about 70 percent conquest 30 percent carnivalization we need to be adding

the 70 percent song to our existing base and then we should see that growth over the coming years

that's really what we've got to be laser like you mentioned dealers and I'm hoping it doesn't sound

like I'm looking at my notes but 140 around 140 sites in the UK now uh six new sites in the last

six months which is sort of a reassuring sign that the physical dealer still has a place what

role do they play if we hear so much about you know the buying process is going digital for a

long time at a like agency was going to be the next big thing do you think Nissan is one of those

brands that just you know it needs that physical retail I'm a great believer that you need a strong

retailer network and I think they do a great job and I think it's more important than ever

that they're there because you have got all these choices so you've got traditional ice you've got

in our case e-powers and unique hybrid powertrain and you've got full electric and you need really

good partners making sure that the customers are presented with those different options and are

really clear why again both the positives and the negatives around those around those choices

and that's why I think the dealer network is super important we're looking obviously to continue

to kind of fill out a few open points as well over the coming year or so and then you know we'll

finish with a really good representation we've already got a really strong after sales representation

again probably really important for the fleet customers and they don't talk about van so much but

van customers as well I do love a van as well but van customers as well so we've got a really good

after sales network coverage really good and we've definitely got with convenience just a

few little dots on the map that we still need to fill out but yet it's again I think a real

powerful reflection on where the brand's going and people can kind of see the future with a new

product they went into invest to put that that new investment and those new stores in I remember

one executive wants telling me that physical dealers were important because people want to touch

smell and taste the cars I think he might be doing it wrong but what's the profile like of a

of a modern Nissan buyer you operate in very disparate segments you know they've got the

micro coming in at the bottom which I imagine targets inherently a younger buyer I mean we've

even been told it's less of a grandma car now sort of thing so is that demographic evolving

I think for any mass market brand you've really got trying to appeal to as many people as you

possibly can and across the demographic age groups I think across and people that are really

at the early kind of EV adopters all the way to the people who probably don't know I mean you

if we need to make sure that we're covering kind of all the all the bases so I don't think

there's kind of same right we're targeting this particular or that particular sub-segment we're

going to have a very broad range of cars across a real broad range of payments and across a broad

range of power trains and that is going to appeal to lots of different different types of people I'm

sure you mentioned competition earlier it's just you know it's the buzzword at the moment isn't it

it feels like every day I wake up and I write about a new brand that's coming to the UK

what what does that mean for you you know there are brands now that didn't exist six months ago

but already have a 4% market share in the UK and they're playing right in Nissan Heartland

Territory potentially undercutting it by by quite a few thousand pounds how do you confront that

yeah it's a really good point I think I think certainly obviously as one of the largest you

know I said we've got a number one for search for small SGB number one search for mid SGB so

doubtfully we've been we've been targeted more of those competitors because we're the the lead

brands in those markets I think how do we differentiate ourselves I think part is the

the dealer network we need that dealer network really really strong I think part is our heritage

in electric as we move towards that transition to you know a more EV orientated marketplace that

heritage is going to be really important the other word I would use is trust I think Nissan's

a very trusted brand if you're making that leap to a new technology I think you want to do that

with somebody that you know is going to have your back and we know for you know I guess Fiskrup

be probably a good example of brands that come and brands that go we don't necessarily know all

these brands come in or necessarily still be here in two five ten years ten years time you know I

think we could be confident Nissan's still going to be here in two five ten years ten years time

so I think that that trust element and that longevity is also going to be really important

to us but also critically comes down to the product doesn't it ultimately we need you guys

right in this is the best car in that segment that's ultimately also makes a huge huge difference

because probably more than ever now you know people are doing more research before they shortlist

you know what they want to go and look at back to your point about the MC feel and taste of the car

so I think that bit is also really important you need to have really really good

product and I think I mentioned leave obviously all the legacy up to 400 mile range really really

strong it's going to be certainly very much amongst the most efficient cars in terms of miles per

kilowatt hour there isn't a whole market place that's going to be a real strength for us obviously

the anticipation of the 3750 grant that's going to be a real strength rent strength for us and

Microsoft's got some five-star reviews already that's a real strength we've got V2G coming that

can be a differentiator on product as well and then and then the wider message around that

and as I said then we've got some really exciting products coming not too far away that I think

are really going to be game changers in terms of design so ultimately in the short term you know

you can kind of be quite defensive and you've got a lot we've got lots of strengths that help us

with that defensive strategy but in the medium term it's got to be product and you've got to be on the

audience that's interesting you mentioned sort of five five six aspects of competitiveness there

but you didn't you didn't mention headline price which I think is is is telling maybe do you think

that's a less of a less of a motivating factor now I think I think it's really about value rather

than necessarily price but I think if you looked at Nissan historically it's always had been

competitively offered competitive value versus the competition and I don't think that's our biggest

issue today I think we do offer great value for the customers I think we can see that in terms of

we've got two cars in the top five sellers you know we could only do that because we're strong in

pretty much all the channels in the marketplace and we're strong because we offer real competitive

value for money effectively so I think it will be important for a certain cohort of customers

that's definitely true but equally I think for the vast majority of customers absolute pound

notes per month will not be the absolute defining choice of what they go on to buy because they want

to consider it within that whole package of some of the little things I mentioned around the brands

about heritage around about trust around about convenience number of sides we've got etc there's

lots of other reasons that play into that final decision and of course reviews and the quality

of the product fantastic we're coming to the end now but without without asking you to breach any

NDAs or embargoes just give us a bit of a reason to get excited beyond the leaf beyond the micro

what can we look forward to yeah I think I think you'll see that obviously new GTVs slave production

up in Sunderland as well and again I think I'd say go online look at the hyperpunk concept car

that'll give you a really good idea of the kind of design direction and that's coming ahead for us

so if that doesn't get you excited nothing will that'll be a going changing product yeah that's

quite a wild looking thing I think if someone presented you that five years ago and said here's

the new Nissan SUV you'd be you'd be laughing right so we'll leave it there thank you very much

for coming in thank you very much for giving us that insight it's been great to speak to you James

thank you thank you and thank you for listening we'll see you next time thank you very much

thanks for joining us for this podcast brought to you in association with Anderson EV visit

Anderson dash EV dot com for much more my weekend cars will return next and every Wednesday

Bonus: Autocar Meets Nissan's James Taylor

About this episode

EV

Rolls Royce

mass EV manufacturing

vehicle to grid

V2L

V2G

ZED EV mandate

electric vehicles

Nissan Leaf

ICE cars

conquest rate

Nissan Juke

Nissan Qashqai

electric cars

range

infrastructure

e-Power hybrid powertrain

WLTP

automatic transmission

consumer incentivization

widespread adoption

car grant

EV orientated marketplace

headline price

competitive value

Alfa Gtvs

hyperpunk concept car

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