New Nissan Philippines chief to focus on customer service, e-vehicles

MANILA, Philippines — The new head of Nissan Philippines Inc. (NPI) aims to sustain the company’s sales growth momentum by focusing on customer satisfaction and promoting electric vehicles (EVs).

“We delivered great results in the past couple of years and my vision is to sustain this growth momentum for the future,” NPI president and general manager Atsushi Najima told reporters during the company’s handover ceremony.

Najima replaces Ramesh Narasimhan who will be taking over as president of Nissan Thailand.

NPI has seen significant growth under Narasimhan’s leadership.

While most automotive firms registered lower sales last year due to weak demand for vehicles following the government’s move to slap higher taxes on automobiles, NPI bucked the trend as it sold 34,952 units, 40 percent higher than the 24,995 units in 2017.

In the same year, the company accounted for 8.7 percent share of the Philippine automotive market.

Following the good performance last year, Najima said NPI would want to sell to more Filipino consumers by focusing on customer satisfaction.

“Our service is not on sales only. We need to provide after-sales as well. That is why as far as we provide service, we think as a package. We want to get customer satisfaction,” he said.

He said there are opportunities for growth for the company in the country given the huge market, strong economic growth and rising purchasing power.

“Globally, if you look at other countries, GDP (gross domestic product) per capita exceeds $3,000, this is start of motorization. Philippines is exactly at that stage. I see huge opportunity for Philippine market,” he said.

To sustain the company’s growth momentum, he said NPI would also be expanding its offering through the launch of its EV, the Nissan Leaf, next year.

As part of preparations for the launch of the Leaf next year, he said NPI intends to continue to work with the government, as well as to support policies for the development for EVs in the country.