What Is Missing
Carlos Ghosn, the Brazilian-born car executive, is head of the Japanese car manufacturer, Nissan. He spoke to reporters about Japanese economy. [TONE]∥[TONE]
NEWSWEEK: Japan’s economy is even worse off now than when you arrived in 1999. Did you expect it to get this bad [TONE]∥[TONE]
GHOSN: Little by little, I’ve come to think that what’s remarkable about Japan is that there is so much potential. I can see it inside and outside Nissan, but so little is delivered. Japan is always extremely p when there’s a mission. The glorious years have always been driven by a p, clear vision. It would be fair to say that this vision doesn’t exist today—or if it exists, it is blurred. Or fake. People talk about problems, with bad loans and things. What is missing is a clear vision that would mobilize all the qualities Japanese people can show in periods of challenge. [TONE]∥[TONE]
Why are people saying Japan has a problem What goals would be realistic [TONE]∥[TONE]
First, Japan did not grow as much as people were expecting. Second, the creation of value and wealth were on very p up trend until the 1990s. How can Japan resume wealth creation And how can Japan grow again Let me give you an example in the automobile market. At its peak, 6 million cars were sold in Japan per year. Today we’re barely at 4 million. One objective may be to say: "How can we return to the peak years " Coming back to the best performance Japan has reached would represent a big jump forward. [TONE]∥[TONE]
Why don’t more companies put their own houses in order Nissan is certainly a model. [TONE]∥[TONE]
There is a lot of coverage of Nissan. From the beginning we anticipated this. I had a sense that we needed to be extremely transparent because we would be introducing a lot of change, and for change to work people need to know why and how we’re making these changes. Because Japan’s strengths are (found) particularly at the base. The work force is second to none, and once they are convinced that this is the direction to take, people are willing to go the extra mile for these things to happen. [TONE]∥[TONE]
Many Japanese fear radical reform. Is there a middle way [TONE]∥[TONE]
I personally don’t believe in middle ways. I’m not telling you this to be provocative; at Nissan we would never have taken the middle road. When I met Nissan’s unions in July of 1999. They came to my office and at the end of these informal talks, I asked if there was anything they wanted to tell me as we worked to come up with a plan. They said: "Yes, we have something. Whatever you have to do, do it fast." They just wanted to get out of the tunnel. [TONE]∥[TONE]
Is Japan overreacting to the threat from China [TONE]∥[TONE]
Japan is establishing a very solid relationship with China. When you see the transfers of technologies, the investments and collaborations, Japan is finding very smart ways to associate itself with the government. ObvioUsly, there are many countries that would love to take Japan’s place. But they will do it if, and only if, Japan allows them to do it. I don’t think there is a major outside threat to Japan. The major threat is internal. We’re not recognizing the potential of the country and not acting on this potential. [TONE]∥[TONE]
With Japan’s stock prices at 20-year lows, is now a good time to invest [TONE]∥[TONE]
This is the moment to invest, both for Japanese people and for those outside Japan who are seeking opportunity. It will have to be active investment; you’ll have to work on it to make sure it delivers. But it’s an opportunity, no doubt about it. [TONE]∥[TONE]