Nissan Motor chief executive Carlos Ghosn has called for the auto industry to reduce its reliance on incentives and encouraged an end to “bland, safe, cookie-cutter designs”, according to Dow Jones.
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Speaking at the New York motor show on Wednesday, Ghosn reportedly made a play for more passion in the industry, saying that innovative design is the key to the auto industry’s revival.
“Incentives are an insidious, confusing carousel that no one seems willing to get off,” he said. Though Ghosn didn’t mention any auto maker in particular, Dow Jones thought his remarks seemed focused on General Motors, Ford and Chrysler Group – all recently heavily reliant on pitching discounts and incentives as they’ve fought against an incursion by overseas auto makers.
“You’d be hard-pressed to name another industry so reliant on discounts,” Ghosn reportedly said.
In their reach for high volume and market-share growth, auto makers destroy value, instead falling back on bland design, Ghosn said, adding, “Auto makers can either sell cars without passion and struggle with shrinking production, or they can sell cars with passion.”
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By GlobalDataAccording to Dow Jones, Ghosn refused to directly address GM’s problems, saying only that the solution for the struggling auto maker must come from inside. In 1999, in Nissan’s darkest days, Ghosn said that he brushed off outside advice, turning instead to what he believed were best practices in the industry and emulating them. Ghosn is widely credited for his swiftly engineered turnaround at Nissan’s helm.
Ghosn reportedly likened the auto industry’s struggles to formerly troubled Apple Computer, which found blazing success with its Ipod music player. New Ipod designs, Ghosn pointed out, “seem to come out every three to six months.”
Asked about persistently high energy prices and where auto makers should turn for the next fuel-related innovation, Ghosn said that petrol-electric hybrids, heavily touted as part of GM’s and Ford’s turnaround plans, are only one option. The use of ethanol, manufactured from corn, as fuel, he said, according to Dow Jones, “doesn’t rely on anyone else,” making it a prime platform for growth.
