Our communication has not been so successful: Guillaume Sicard, Nissan India

Which are the key areas that need to be changed?
Firstly we have good products. We could have more. So the basics are here.
I think very basically we need to be top of mind. Too many people don't think about this. And then after we need to keep convincing on the dealership, because the quality of our dealership is good, quality of our after sales service reputation is good and there we need to keep working.
Our communication has not been so successful yet from an Indian point of view. From corporate point of view, it was good. I can feel now that it was not so well connected. Once we have that, we need to have the right dealers and right customer journey with professionalism of our dealers.
I think we need to understand in Nissan that the customer is going to buy not only your car but is also going to buy a relationship with the dealer with sales person. And this I think we have not understood yet and at Maruti this is exactly what they have done. They have this connection and trust that they established over the years. I am looking at them from a network point of view. So if we can gain little bit of what they have done, then I think we will be on the right track.
I am very respectful of Maruti for the way they sell their cars and I would like to look at Hyundai for their cars. You need to have benchmarks. I see the interiors of Hyundai, they have some very good price. The right combination is the Maruti network with some hints of Hyundai.

Do you think the tie up with Hover Automotive was a mistake?
I think it was a mistake. It's not about Hover, but a tie up with a filter was very strange to me.
But may be, I would have taken the same decision few years ago when we were entering the market, because you know you are talking about a market which is very complex. And its not just a market, its a big continent. So in a situation where you are investing millions of dollars, having a partner who understands the market rather than going solo, could be right.

You have diverse products, right from the lower end of the market with Datsun. How do you ensure differentiated strategies and manage two brands?
Its good to have Datsun because it helps to have more of a schizophrenic kind of approach. So its good. But its complex to be so small and manage two brands... we are adding more complexity into the organisation. On a long-term basis its a good decision, but on a short basis, its a painful decision.
I have the experience of working in two markets with two brands – Renault and Dacia. And I know that simplicity is the best thing. I also think it should be managed by the same head. Some people think that – okay you have two brands just separate everything. But no, its not good because two people on different brands might want to do same thing. But if you have a same head, he will know how to differentiate.

Do you think the timing of Datsun Go launch could have been better?
If we had a power of selecting a better time, we would have. But I understand the decision. But honestly it was not the appropriate time.
The beginning however is acceptable - we sold 10,000 cars, which is not a failure with 3% of the segment. Though we still are babies, I am not aiming for 20% growth next year but want to see a steady growth of our products.

Nissan has been aiming for a 10% market share. Do you think that happening anytime soon?
The ambition what I have first is to construct the awareness and customer satisfaction. We may reach that level if the awareness is at least 50% and our customer satisfaction is in the top five.
I love this 10% thing, its a dream, its motivating and challenging but I don't know if its 2020 or even 2025. But anyway its a figure that I like and its a vision. Where we can improve is localisation and we want to be close to 100%.