-- This is Jeff from Nissan --
Yesterday I met up with Chelsea Sexton at the LA Auto Show. Most of our discussion was pleasant, expect for the part when she took me to task for not being active on MNL.com. I have maintained from my first post that I would not come here to drop corporate spin, and so if I didn't have something add, I would simply monitor. Chelsea disagreed with my position, and so have some of you (I've seen the posts!), and so she twisted my arm and told me to get back in and engage ... I actually have a picture of her twisting my arm, I just can't figure out how to put it in this post.
Ok, first, I apologize for not being more active. Second, hopefully, some of the following will be interesting to you.
There is a lot of good dialogue in this topic thread, and has Chelsea noted above, we have been talking about a townhall sometime soon. Getting Andy over prior to the holidays is going to be difficult, but we're working on a date shortly after the new year.
Chelsea also told me that she has tried to encourage a number of Nissan employees to be active in the forum, but that they have told her that they are prohibited from participating in the forum. I will look into this. I’m not aware of such a prohibition. Everyone who engages in social media has to remember that they wear many hats and represent, not only themselves, but companies, family and friends. And so, employees have to remember that they are Nissan employees in the MyNissanLeaf.com forum. As long as they do and that they conduct themselves appropriately (no sharing of confidential information, don’t say anything in confidence, don’t say anything about another person that you wouldn’t say to them personally), then there should be no problem. We'll try to get a few more Nissan voices from time to time.
I was at our ad agency, TBWA, in LA earlier today. We were conducting a full creative review, including a number of TV, print and online ads. I'm happy to report that we reviewed a number of LEAF executions. I say this to make this point: we are committed to zero emission technology, and specifically, we are committed to the LEAF. Actions are louder than words, and you will see a number of things shortly to support this, including US production of LEAF vehicles will begin shortly, new ads are coming, and shortly we'll share the details of the 2013 U.S. model year enhancements.
On another front, we have been working inside of the company to address a number of the issues that you raised during the Chelsea/Andy video. This is not a fast process, but there is progress. Not much more I can say about this today.
One time that I should have jumped into the discussion was when we announced the 2013 model year LEAF for Japan. The specific discussion that went too far afield had to do with vehicle range. I regret that I didn't post when some in the forum were assuming what the Japan range meant for the US vehicles. It's important to remember that comparably-equipped LEAF vehicles will generally travel the same distance on the equivalent change. That's to say, if you put a US LEAF, next to a Japan LEAF, next to a Euro LEAF, and each is equipped the same, and each has the same charge, they will travel the same distance. The only difference is the window sticker mileage value. Each country requires a different testing protocol, and this is how it appears that a LEAF in Japan travels farther. It's simply not the case.
Finally, I saw somewhere in the forum that someone was at the LA Auto Show and visited the Nissan booth looking for new photos of 2013 vehicles and they could not find them. And for good reason: we haven't shot the photos yet. In fact, I was having a conversation about that today. And, so maybe this is an opportunity to brainstorm together. I would invite members of the forum to give me and the Communications team ideas on how best to show the LEAF for newspaper and website media. We'll be shooting new photography shortly and I would consider any interesting ideas. Post ideas or send me a note with your thoughts.
Best wishes to all as we head into the holidays.
Regards,
Jeff Kuhlman