Interview

Reasons for Choosing Nissan

The encounter with Nissan that made me choose a career with them was their unveiling of the Nissan Leaf. As an external consultant, I was involved in press reviews which covered the competitive moves being made within the automotive industry and I was impressed by the Leaf. It stood out to me as both a very natural, yet very innovative choice for customers who were in search of an Electric Vehicle (EV). It was through the development of this vehicle that I could also see Nissan opening the way for new business. This is because when we talk about EV’s, it’s so much more than simply making a car that is electric. You must consider all of the other business that can be done through the use of EV’s as well, such as energy businesses and mobility linked services. All of this serves as a trigger to open new areas of business, and I could see that Nissan, within the Alliance, was quickly becoming a big part of that. I had always wanted to be part of a company that aspired to have a strong, global impact, and to me Nissan was one such company. Much of the value in my work comes from being involved in something that is going to change the way that things are traditionally done. Nissan creates a place where aspirations like this are possible, giving me the opportunity to enact change in my work.

My Job and Working Environment at Nissan

I began at Nissan as an internal consultant. This was great, because during this time there were many challenges to overcome, which allowed me to take my experience as an external consultant and use it within the Nissan environment. After that, I moved to another department working on the revitalization of Light Commercial Vehicles business. Following this, I joined Alliance mobility services. This was an interesting time because around 2017-2018 the hope for autonomous vehicles (AV) was very high. Many companies were sure that in the following years there would be AV’s everywhere, so a lot of those ideas were coming to us. Today, a lot of my work and my team’s work is to prepare Nissan for the disruption that is coming within the automotive industry with regards to electric and autonomous vehicles. Throughout my time at Nissan, I’ve enjoyed being able to start in one position, then move to something like Light Commercial Vehicles, which I never imagined that I would work on. At Nissan, there is also the chance of working with teams overseas. These kinds of rotations and opportunities allow you to grow not only your understanding of the automotive industry, but also within your personal career.