Nissan announced this month it is revamping its commercial vehicle business strategy with its new “Nissan Business Advantage” initiative, which will focus on providing a one-stop-shop suite of solutions for customers, as well as bringing support to its core product lineup.
The new Nissan Business Advantage is designed for fleets of varying sizes and industries via the support of unique sales incentives, commercial financing solutions, improved on-demand delivery solutions to improve OTD, and more. The automaker will also support its full vehicle lineup with the commercial program, which was driven by growth it saw in the commercial space.
“Success in North America is critical to the Nissan NEXT transformation plan, and we are concentrating on our core business and products,” said Michael Colleran, senior vice president, Nissan U.S. Marketing & Sales. “With Nissan Business Advantage, we can meet the unique needs of any business owner by providing a full array of vehicles for their companies to get the job done.”
In order to focus on core products, the company will end production of its NV Cargo, Passenger and NV200 vans in the summer of 2021, and concentrate on Nissan Business Advantage to provide more choices to commercial vehicle customers. Sales of vans in the U.S., through established Business Certified Dealers (for NV Cargo and Passenger), will continue through calendar year 2021, or until supply is exhausted.
“We're also aligning with our product portfolio,” said Jennifer Moser, director, fleet sales and residual value for Nissan North America. “For example, we have invested heavily in our sedans and small sedans form a strategic standpoint when many of our competitors are walking away from the segment.”
The Nissan Business Advantage includes:
Full vehicle lineup: All Nissan vehicles qualify.
Commercial financing: Special commercial lending programs start at sales of two vehicles or more.
Unique sales incentives: Business-to-business offers, upfit allowances and opportunity to earn awards on purchases.
On-demand delivery: Business purchases can be from dealer stock or built to order. Personalized delivery is available from all Nissan dealers.
Priority service: Roadside assistance, in dealer service and prepaid maintenance to keep business vehicles on the road and working for Nissan business customers.
Centralized billing: Consolidated and simplified monthly billing for business vehicles serviced at Nissan dealerships (which will be available in March 2021).
“We’ve seen commercial growth year after year, and 2019 was bigger than 2018, and we want to make sure that we’re structured to capture the opportunity and serve the businesses who are clearly growing in the vehicle acquisition space,” said Moser.
Moser also stressed the continued focus on safety technology via its Nissan Safety Shield 360 suite of solutions as well as its electric vehicle lineup, which are continued areas of growing interest for fleets.
“Business clients now are telling us they have corporate goals of reducing their carbon footprint, they have corporate goals of achieving better fuel economy, and we’re seeing a trend of EVs being sold into the commercial space,” said Moser.
The only vehicle not included Nissan Business Advantage is the GT-R.
Nissan is in the middle of an aggressive product offensive in the U.S. – revealing 10 new products in 20 months – with six coming to showrooms by the end of 2021, of which all will be available to Business Advantage customers.
