Nissan does war-gaming, looking out on the horizon, studying where the competition is, and this is an area they need to address.
Jack's a product visionary. He's got the ability to look over the horizon and see how it's going and tell you how to get there. That's an extraordinary talent.
People keep coming back every year because of the people, and it was a great place to work.
I think people have the deer-in-the-headlights syndrome, just delaying purchases based on the bad news of gas prices coming out of the winter.
It doesn't look like they had as fast a start as they did last year.
That's the real core of the car battleground in America in terms of volume. Those are huge, huge volume vehicles.
Volkswagen has gotten their products in line, and now they are increasing awareness with their marketing campaign. I don't see anything blocking them this year other than possible new incentives.
With $3 a gallon or more for gasoline, there's a huge potential for people to migrate back to cars over the next few months. Honda has an abundant strength in terms of its perception as green -- for high-mileage cars.
This will be a big positive because there is a migration taking place from traditional SUVs to something that has the same feeling but is not as big. It provides a destination for all the defectors who don't want SUVs anymore.
What Ford is trying to do is find hyper-efficient ways to connect the name with the image of the vehicle in the marketplace prior to introduction.
There's so many other Toyota vehicles they can buy in the 40 miles a gallon range. You can get a Honda Civic automatic that gets 30 and 40 (miles per gallon). Do I need a Honda hybrid?
Sales are going to be down a bit, and it's because of gas prices that haven't seemed to come down. The end of the month hurt the auto manufacturers. People were saying, 'Are gas prices finally going to fall?' And they didn't.
Once you have these benefits, it's very difficult to take them away.
It's energy. It's not just gasoline. People are looking at their gas and electric bills. Talk about stunned silence.
It's a race for the hearts and minds of the premium buyer.
It's a loss, but my guess is he's got someone in the wings that can maybe get into his shoes, although they may not fit him right away.
It's going to be very challenging for them, but they'll muddle through it. They've got some very capable people at the top. It is surmountable, but it's going to be a challenge.
It's a very cool idea. It's a way to engage the audience in a way that they can identify it.
Everybody is looking at ways to save, and it's not going to stop.
They've got to be very pleased. They are buoyant on sales of their most important products. It really does signal a very robust first quarter for them.
Size matters, and the calendar year is a nice milestone to reflect upon. But it's like a sprint that never ends.
This is a huge amount of change for any company to swallow in a short amount of time, even for a company that has fought its way back from the edge like Nissan has.
The market will still be incredibly and blisteringly competitive. Everybody wants to grow and it's got to come out of somebody else's hide. Nobody sleeps in this business.