Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.bonus,americast.usa-today.bonus From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: bonus Mon, Aug 24 1992 Date: Mon, 24 Aug 92 04:10:13 EDT Message-ID: 08-24 0000 BONUS: Nissan set to spring Altima USA TODAY Update Aug. 24, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network Everybody even remotely interested in the car business knows that Chrysler's critically important LH sedans - centerpiece of its car lineup - will make their debut this fall. But deep in the rolling hills of Tennessee, where corn stretches toward the sun and cows contentedly graze, Japan's Nissan is revving up new mid-size cars named Altima that may be equally as important to its future. WHY IS THE ALTIMA SO IMPORTANT TO NISSAN? Nissan is still a world industrial powerhouse, but it's been struggling to stay competitive in the crowded U.S. car market. This year, Nissan's U.S. car and truck sales have slipped 7% and will likely total 520,000 - down dramatically from 830,000 seven years ago. However, Nissan's U.S. managers are giddy with confidence. "A year ago, we looked like bums. A year from now, we'll look like heroes," predicts Thomas Mignanelli, president of Nissan's U.S. sales operations. WHAT ARE NISSAN'S HOPES FOR THE ALTIMA? Altima is the centerpiece of Nissan's comeback strategy. The company hopes to sell as many as 200,000 Altimas a year - one-third of Nissan's annual sales. "Everybody knows the importance of this vehicle," says Ivan Kelso, one of 6,000 employees at Nissan's 9-year-old Smyrna plant, the largest automotive-assembly plant under one roof in the USA. The stakes are enormous. Nissan is the world's fourth-largest auto company - behind General Motors, Toyota and Ford. It's a strong No. 2 in Japan to Toyota. It's the best-selling Japanese brand in Europe. CAN THE ALTIMA CHANGE NISSAN'S IMAGE? In the U.S. market, Nissan has dropped to third place among Japanese companies, behind Toyota and Honda, whose sales it dwarfs at home. An alarming note: Upstart Mazda, known best for its peppy Miata convertible, has twice surpassed Nissan in monthly U.S. car sales this year. Nissan thinks Altima, plus its compact Sentra and full-size Maxima sedans, will give it a clear, sedan-based identity. It's betting that the cars will give the sales punch Nissan can't get from eye-catching but small-selling performance models such as the aggressive 300ZX and spunky 240SX. "What does a great 240SX or a great 300Z get you? You don't get" significant sales, says Mignanelli. WHY IS NISSAN SO SURE A SEDAN IS THE ANSWER? Stressing sedans is a strategy that worked well for Toyota. The hugely successful Camry, restyled last year, and bread-and-butter Corolla, revamped for 1993, make it possible for Toyota to spice its lineup with cars like Celica and MR2. Strong-selling four-doors could help Nissan zoom back to the big leagues in the U.S. market. But Altima's failure would seal Nissan's slip to second-rate status. In fact, rumors have run rampant for the past six months that if Nissan doesn't rebound this fall, Mignanelli will be out of a job. The New England-born executive, who does not have a contract with Nissan, says he isn't worried . IS THIS A PANICKED EFFORT? But there's reason for concern. Until now, Nissan has "not performed very well in the mid size segment," admits Nissan manufacturing chief Jerry Benefield. The mid size Stanza, which Altima replaces, sold about 70,000 last year. Honda Accord's sales topped 370,000. "Altima is a better car, more contemporary (than Stanza)," says Benefield. "It has a better suspension and handling package." HAS NISSAN PUSHED ALTIMA ENOUGH? Some worry that Nissan hasn't done enough to hype the car. In a normal year, Altima would draw plenty of attention. It's being praised for its reasonable $12,999 starting price - more than $1,000 below Camry's and Accord's. But Altima has been overshadowed by Chrysler's LH cars, touted in a carefully crafted publicity campaign for more than a year. Mazda's revamped 626 sedan has drawn warm reviews. And Altima must battle a restyled Camry and Ford Taurus, both of which are bigger. DID NISSAN PUT A LOT INTO THE NEW PLANT? Nissan spared little, however, in overhauling its sprawling Tennessee factory, about 30 miles south of Nashville. Smyrna's capacity doubled in the $450 million expansion: It can build 450,000 cars a year with fewer workers than most U.S. plants require. Along with Altima, Smyrna builds Sentra and pickup trucks. Smyrna sports some of the most sophisticated technology in the U.S. auto industry. Its manufacturing process - called IBAS, or intelligent body-assembly system - is controlled by computers. IBAS is aimed at giving Nissan the ability to decide what kinds of cars to build, fix problems fast and guarantee great quality. HOW HAS IBAS FACILITATED ENGINEERING? "Simply put, we are aiming for a (system) in which managers can immediately grasp what is happening and what needs to be done," says Nissan executive Kazutaka Kobatake. First installed in Nissan's year-old Kyushu plant in southern Japan, IBAS lets Nissan engineers change the way cars are assembled in hours simply by re programming IBAS' computers. That might take days in a conventional plant. Model changeovers, which require U.S. carmakers' factories to be closed for a month or more, can be accomplished in about three weeks. DOES IBAS MAKE A BETTER CAR? Quality is superb largely because everyone involved in building the car - engineers, suppliers and technicians on the plant floor - works from the same computer-prescribed specifications. "It results in a much crisper looking car," says Richard Turner, Altima assembly manager. IBAS' advantage can be seen most readily in highly labor-intensive areas such as body welding. Deep inside the plant, Altima car bodies pass through a compartment where robots do 67 different welds in seconds - tasks that used to take dozens of people several minutes. From there, the cars go into a closed booth, where laser beams check the welds' accuracy. Because of the lasers' sensitivity, nobody gets inside. Turner monitors the process on overhead TVs. WILL IBAS SPREAD TO OTHER CARMAKERS? University of Michigan professor Donald Smith predicts that IBAS, developed by a U.S.-Japanese Nissan team, will revolutionize the way cars are built in the USA. "We took a mix of the way Japan does it and added the best of the way we do it," says Turner, who spent six months in Oppama, Japan, directing 150 U.S. and Japanese employees in developing IBAS. WHAT OTHER ADVANCES HAS NISSAN MADE? Smyrna has another crown jewel: its pristine new paint shop, where humans are not allowed to tread for fear of damaging a job. First, car bodies ride on carriers that send them down to a huge vat of base-coat paint. When they emerge, canvas-padded and plastic-sheathed robotic arms open car doors, spray paint inside the car and close the doors. The cars run through huge rolls of ostrich feathers to remove flecks of paint. Then, the autos are baked at 325 degrees for 17 minutes to ensure an even, glass like glaze. To avoid chipping or nicking cars along the production line, workers decided not to wear studded jeans, metal belt buckles, rings or watches - and reprimand those who do. DOES ALL OF THIS ADD UP TO A SUCCESSFUL PRODUCT? What will happen when Altima hits the market isn't clear. But Smyrna's human-resources director, Bucky Kahl, is confident about the plant. "I don't think we'll screw it up." Bonus Editor: Martin Baucom. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM