Since last January José Muñoz has functioned as Executive Vice President of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.; and Chairman of Nissan North America, Inc. In these roles, he is responsible for overseeing Nissan’s operations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. His scope includes Manufacturing, Engineering, Design, Sales and Marketing, Administration and Finance. As we prepare to preview the newest Nissan models for 2016 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, we bring you once again our HOMBRE exclusive with this experienced corporate leader. In a revealing conversation, Muñoz discusses the future of Nissan, the company’s initiatives for the Hispanic community, and his recipe for success.

Muñoz joined the organization after a career that included more than 10 years in management positions with other automotive companies in Europe. It was in 2004 when he began as general manager, Dealer Development, for Nissan Europe; moving on to serve as managing director of Nissan Iberia, S.A. Then in 2009, he was named president, Nissan Mexicana (NMEX). Under his leadership, NMEX achieved the highest market share in Nissan’s history and saw a 42-month run of sales leadership in Mexico. Starring in April 2012 Muñoz was responsible for the performance of the company’s operations in Mexico, Latin America and Brazil, representing each on Nissan’s Management Committee for the Americas.

HOMBRE: What is new for Nissan this year?
José Muñoz: For us it’s becoming a habit to break records every month. The last fiscal year of 2013 we had the best year ever in the region. The U.S., Canada and Mexico had all time records. Canada leading in growth, 22% growth and a 2 points share growth. In Mexico we maintain the leadership position in the market for five years in a row with a 24.9 percent market share. One out of four cars sold in the country is a Nissan. In the U.S we had the number one growth in the year. It was 15 percent for the Nissan brand, including Infiniti. We have broken our own record 13 months in a row now, so we are grateful.
The role that the new products have played in that growth is critical. The success of the Versa, the Sentra, the Altima, the Rogue and the Pathfinder. And the crossover family has grown by 18 percent; the Juke, the Murano. If you look at it as a portfolio of products it’s 22 percent of growth. Dealers saw that they had the greatest profitability ever, with a growth of 26 percent year over year.

H: To what do you attribute the growth and leadership position?
JM: Number one is the product. If you have a good product you will be successful. The new products that we have put in place or launched over the last couple of years have great design, very innovative technology, and they are competitive in the marketplace. You put that together with the excellent relationship we’ve been able to build with our dealership network and all that makes for a great combination. And we are taking advantage of the evolution in the market. Good products, good dealers, good market.

H: What initiatives are you putting in place for the Hispanic market?
JM: First of all we are now present in key Hispanic media; and in places that the Hispanic population is really interested in. We know Hispanics like soccer so you’ll see us a lot in soccer. And we are giving credit to this population. Our finance company is trying hard to provide credit, which is especially important for the Versa and the Sentra models. On top of that we speak the language. We have one of the most diversified group of executives. We are trying to get together the strength of our brand in Latin America, especially in Mexico. We are market leaders and is resonating quite well. In California we are having a huge growth, in Florida huge as well; Texas, same thing. I would say it’s not a surprise. Our customers say, ‘This is the Nissan that I know, same quality, reliability, durability, nice design, good performance, and prices which are reasonable.’ It’s a good recipe for success.

Nissan Versa

H: What is your top selling car in Mexico?
JM: I believe it’s the Versa.

Nissan Altima

H: And in the U.S.?
JM: The number one selling vehicle for Nissan in the U.S. is the Altima, in the mid size sedan segment.

Nissan Rogue

Nissan Sentra

Our second is very very close with the Rogue and the Sentra.

Nissan GTR

H: What vehicle would you recommend for our HOMBRE reader and why?
JM: Since you didn’t put any parameters, a GTR. When you drive one of those everybody looks at you, man, woman, kids; it’s a nice car to have. But since not everybody can afford this supercar we have other cars that have the same DNA and are also very appealing and are selling quite well.

Juke

The Juke Nismo is a really good car, very stylish, that’s really nice.

370Z

If you like sports cars, but a little more affordable then you have the 370Z. If you want a nice sedan that looks more sporty than its competitor that’s the Altima.

Nissan Frontier

If you like a working truck we are leaders with Frontier.

Nissan Titan

We have a nice pick-up, the Titan, which we are now refreshing completely with the launch of the new generation Titan. In our tagline we say ‘Innovation that excites,’ there you have innovation for all, segment by segment. You have a lot of options.

H: How did you come into Nissan?
JM: Nissan hired me! And they did a good job. (laughs)
I always liked this brand. My dad, when he worked, was buying thousands of Nissans. He was the head of a fleet of a big company. They were just buying Nissans because they would not break and the cost of maintenance was very low. That’s the still the case. So when I started working he said, ‘Finally you are working for a serious brand.’ I get a lot of pressure at home to deliver.

H: And finally, rising to such a high level within the company, what advice would you give to someone who admires your success?
JM: My first advice is that there is no success. The minute you think you’re successful, you’ve lost everything. You have to be really thorough when you analyze what you want to do. You have to be committed. You need to work with passion and you need to be humble, and hungry. Think that you never made it.
We are on our way, we are really far from where we need to be. So when you’re are a leader in Mexico you think, what else can you do. There’s 75 percent out there that is not yours. Let alone in the U.S. where the last 3 months we are at 9.5 percent. We have a lot more to earn than what we made so far. We are not successful that’s the thing you need to learn. Keep fighting. Perseverance.

NIssan North America Chairman José Muñoz with HOMBRE Magazine’s Francisco Romeo

Nissan Z Coupe