Interview

Our Jobs and Careers
at the Planning Function

Product Strategy and
Product Planning Division

M.M.

Chief Product Specialist

New graduate in 2002

My career

My interest in this job was sparked by my experience in a marketing seminar I majored in at university, where I created automobile product planning and advertising strategies with advice from Nissan employees. After that, through Nissan's selection process, I came in contact with the developers' desire to be close to customers, which attracted me to the company and increased my aspiration for the job. After joining Nissan, I was consistently involved in product planning, gaining experience in the Japan Product Planning Department before being assigned to the Product Planning Department, Product Strategy and Product Planning Division in 2015. From 2021, I started my current position as Chief Product Specialist in the division, where I am responsible for Rogue/X-TRAIL/Qashqai.

What is your important things when it comes to work?

To understand the customers of the vehicle models I am in charge of better than anyone else in the world. The customer is the starting point in planning products. I find it difficult to predict and plan for the market 4 to 5 years into the future, but I do enjoy this job in which I must thoroughly investigate what kind of car will bring a smile to customer.
On the other hand, vehicle development takes many years and involves a great deal of responsibility. If I am not able to plan attractive products, I will not be able to satisfy customer needs, cars will not be sold, factory utilization rates will drop, and suppliers and affiliated companies will be inconvenienced. In addition, the lives of the people who work there will be affected.
Product planning is the most upstream department that creates the next generation of vehicles. It is a challenging and fascinating job, and at the same time, I tackle my daily work with a sense of urgency and responsibility.

You are very particular about "communicating”.

This department is responsible for communicating to designers and engineers what customers are thinking about when they use the car, what they want in terms of design, specifications, and performance, and what they want. The designers and engineers will then work out the specifics of the car. Therefore, the role of product planning is to unify the will of all parties involved by persuasively communicating in more concrete terms what our customers really want in . Product planning is like the conductor of an orchestra.
In order to plan cars that customers want and to make them persuasive, it is necessary to be aware of customers on a regular basis, not overnight. I feel that there is not enough time to dig deep into the reasons for behavior and deep psychology without overlooking the slightest change.
Even so, by incorporating their deepest desires into our planning, we can inspire the designers and engineers to "make the car".
It is not enough to just focus on the "people" aspect, but we also need to brush up our planning by focusing on aspects such as the performance and specifications of cars. What product planning can do is communicate. That is why I am involved in the creation of cars by focusing on the customer, refining the plan, and communicating it to the team on a daily basis.

VISION

Through product planning, I will embody Nissan's corporate purpose of "enrich people's lives" and “Do what others don’t dare to do” in our DNA. I believe that “Do what others don’t dare to do, we can add colors and joy to the lives of people around the world. If we continue to introduce products that people have never seen before, they will come to expect that Nissan does interesting and exciting things, which will eventually lead to an increase in brand value.
The backgrounds of our product planning members are diverse. Some, like myself, have been involved only in product planning, while others have been involved in marketing and development and chose product planning because they "want to try something new”. They are young and old, male and female, and of various nationalities. This "diversity" includes, of course, those who are new to Nissan. We will continue to incorporate new perspectives and ideas, and work with people from all walks of life to create the next generation of cars.