In India, you have to be patient: Carlos Ghosn

A new brand, a new platform, and a new India strategy, Carlos Ghosn, the CEO of the French-Japanese alliance Renault-Nissan, is on a roll. The rock star auto boss - the subject of a super hero comic strip in Japan - started as a villain after cutting jobs and closing plants to turn Nissan around. Now, he has a cult following. In India to announce a flurry of new measures to drive both companies towards a 15% combined share of the market from a dismal 5% right now, he spoke to TOI on his strategy for tomorrow. Excerpts: 

You have shown dramatic results in most countries that you operate in starting with the turnaround of Nissan. Renault and Nissan entered India over 8 years ago but why does success till elude you here? 

In India you have to be patient. You have to understand the market, make sure you have the right product, right people, right infrastructure. It's not easy. We are extremely optimistic about our prospects. We've hired over 12,000 people of very high quality. With the success of the Duster, we understand what the Indian market really wants and the Datsun GO is a very good prospect for India. We will bring more local products and suppliers, add more people, talent and dealers because this is a challenging and complex market. We are looking at growth - not very rapid but long-term. 

Are you going to develop a car through your partnership with Ashok Leyland? 

We have many projects - both cars and commercial vehicles. Some we handle internally, some we share with partners but there is nothing like that about to be launched under our collaboration with Ashok Leyland. But we have a great partnership with them and we will develop more products in different fields and of different types. 

The Dost has been extremely successful. Can the Ashok Leyland alliance be another source of products for high-growth markets? 

Yes, it is possible to take products developed by the partnership with Ashok Leyland to other high growth markets. The idea is to develop products and technologies, but not export vehicles in large numbers because the critical part of high growth markets is that you most produce locally. So, India will serve as a mother country for all high-growth markets. 

You have built a reputation of a cost killer. Do the present market dynamics, which necessitate a growth focus, lead to a change in your management philosophy and style? 

As a global CEO, you have to do everything. You have to be effective in the use of resources, develop technology, manpower and redirect strategy whenever required. We're one of the largest car companies in the world but we're very different and distinct without any boundaries. 

Will the just announced CMF-A (compact module family A) platform replace the ultra low-cost car project you had earlier announced? And will India be the mother country for the CMF-A platform? 

The CMFA platform will allow us to build a lot of products including the ultra low-cost car. And yes, India will definitely be the mother country for CMFA. 

There has been talk about your retirement. Have you put a succession plan in place and have you identified anyone for the job? 

Both Renault and Nissan have distinct boards but there's no board for the (Nissan-Renault) alliance. Each board has its own job cut out for it just like I have for my executive committee for Renault and Nissan. Succession planning is not a coordinated effort. There won't be one person for both the jobs - given my experience I won't recommend it for anyone. There can be two different CEOs for Nissan and Renault and we have had that in the past. 

Given that the ULC project is now officially scrapped will you still partner with Bajaj on other projects? 

We continue to have a lot of exchanges and a partnership can be reignited on a specific project, depending on specific needs or products so we will always keep the door open to collaborations in India. 

The Mahindras have tweaked the Logan to conform to duty regulations and it is doing much better. Will you introduce similar products since you owned the Logan to begin with? 

Can we introduce a product just like the Logan? No. Can we bring in a new product of the same size? Yes. But we will not compete with the Mahindras on the Logan segment. That is not our intent. 

Do you think that your cultural background has anything to do with your ability to size up and plan for disparate geographies better than other CEOs? 

I have grown up in Brazil, a melting pot of cultures, did my schooling in Lebanon, a crossroad of regions, and studied in France thereafter. So I have been influenced by the background, culture and education of all these different places and this makes me modest. This has also changed my attitude to learning and made me more open to learning from others.

Also read: Datsun India plans : Special Coverage