[MasterKC]

I'm pretty sure NissanUSA has people reading here, so...

I'm getting a little tired of what you are doing to the potential Cube buyers. I can understand the "secrecy" approach you used up until the introduction, I may not appreciate it, but I can understand it. The somewhat botched attempt at a simultaneous introduction on three continents should have been expected. The difficulty of determining trim levels and options when the Yen/Dollar ratio has changed over 20% in the last year is out of your control. But we potential Cube buyers NEED some firm availability dates!!! There are people who have cars on leases that they are turning in, there are people relocating and buying new cars, there are people getting bonuses (yes, even in this economy), and there are people limping there cars along and will be buying something REAL SOON. I'm sure NissanUSA thinks it is being clever by playing coy, but it will backfire if it continues much longer.

 

[derux]

You have hit it on the head with this post. I am waiting like it is the night before christmas. I have a baby on the way and if I dont get some good info on the cube for the wife. I will be driving a nice honda mini van with no hope for buying a cube ever. I hope they give us some info before next month.

 

[ShockTherapy]

i'll second everything that was said.

 

[Woody]

I'm pretty sure NissanUSA has people reading here, so...

I'm getting a little tired of what you are doing to the potential Cube buyers. I can understand the "secrecy" approach you used up until the introduction, I may not appreciate it, but I can understand it. The somewhat botched attempt at a simultaneous introduction on three continents should have been expected. The difficulty of determining trim levels and options when the Yen/Dollar ratio has changed over 20% in the last year is out of your control. But we potential Cube buyers NEED some firm availability dates!!! There are people who have cars on leases that they are turning in, there are people relocating and buying new cars, there are people getting bonuses (yes, even in this economy), and there are people limping there cars along and will be buying something REAL SOON. I'm sure NissanUSA thinks it is being clever by playing coy, but it will backfire if it continues much longer.

Hi!
Nissan's marketing team might be new to the Scion approach, introducing something out of the ordinary even thought there is competition;this might be the reason why options and availability date are still not clear but from what I read expect a delivery date in 2 months and limited options and trims: traction control, backup sonar, keyless entry and automatic.

 

[MasterKC]

Given that the $/Yen ratio has fallen again, and still has more to go, and the state of the domestic economy, I'm hoping they come out with a real "decontented" option, like the $9,990 Versa. Having any version below $15K is going to be difficult, if the $/Yen ratio falls much more.

 

[Woody]

Master KC,

What do you mean by come out with a real "decontented" option?
Are you saying at most that the Cube will need to be expensive for Nissan to make a Yen?

 

[MasterKC]

Nissan is a Japanese company, the Yen is the currency they deal in. Not too long ago, the Yen was trading at 115 Yen to the dollar. If a Cube in Japan were selling for 15000 Yen (which is about right) and the ratio was still 115 Y/$, the could walk into a dealership in Japan and buy one for $13,043. Unfortunately, the ratio is now only 89 Y/$, so it would cost $16,854. While the cost to a Japanese person buying a Cube in Japan and paying in Yen remains the same from day to day, the cost in dollars changes from day to day. Assuming Nissan wants to make the same profit on every Cube they sell, regardless of whether they are selling it in Japan or the US, they are going to have to charge (at today's rates) $16,854 (plus delivery charge, and shipping a car across the Pacific isn't that cheap), which is going to make a 15000 Yen Cube cost between $17,500 and $18,000 in the US. There is a lot of reasons to believe that Nissan wants to only charge about $15,000 for the Cube, so still assuming they want to make the same amount of profit on each sale, regardless of whether it is in Japan of the US, they are going to have to delete $3,000 worth of content from the US version.

 

[Woody]

To start with Nissan intended not to put too much into the cost of building these things. The design is rather simple: a box so labor and build time a probably kept to a minimal. And also Nissan is backed by the Japanese gov't if it loses a tremendous amount of money. Will they cut $ 3.000 worth of options, maybe but that will also keep people away. American and even Japanese love options...

 

[MasterKC]

It's true that it is a simple design, but so was the previous model Cube (which I understand was one of the most popular models in Japan), and Nissan is expected to announce they lost money last year, so it's not like they can cut the cost much and still make money.

 

[MasterKC]

Interesting...


http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/090116/as_japan_nissan.html?.v=7