BREAKING: Johan DeNysschen Quits Infiniti

[RicerX]

http://jalopnik.com/infiniti-ceo-johan- ... 483721/all

It has been confirmed that he will be joining Cadillac.

I'm gravely concerned for the Infiniti brand, as I felt DeNysschen was pushing the brand in the right direction to be the Japanese answer to BMW. He's pretty much solely behind the Eau Rogue being built.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

^I agree with all of that. He was a pretty cool dude in person with a good head on his shoulders.

Furthermore, the fact that the role now falls on Andy Palmer scares the hell out of me.

[nissangirl74]

Furthermore, the fact that the role now falls on Andy Palmer scares the hell out of me.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Ugh. I'm not fond of either of them. Infiniti's lack of focus is kind of stunning. Nissan's descent into mundanity is disappointing. Cadillac is one of the last remaning bastions of Proper Cars, and de Nysschen moving to their camp scares the Hell out of me. Whatever good it was that he brought to the table at Infiniti, Cadillac already has it in droves. They don't need him and I sure as Hell don't want some idiot putting marketing before product like Infiniti has increasingly been doing for the last few years. Cadillac could not be stronger as a brand. The last thing they need is a "brand image" guy.

Regardless of what big IDEAS de Nysschen had for Infiniti, all he really succeeded in doing was making their naming scheme confusing and bringing back badge-engineering while ignoring the glaring lack of a top-tier model (LWB M is NOT a 7 series fighter!!!!). None of these things are good. Talk is cheap. Shut up and excel.

[RicerX]

As far as the luxury car makers go, Infiniti has a lot of problems that I feel JDN was addressing.

The first is the lack of a performance line. Audi has the S/R line, Merc has AMG, Caddy has V, BMW has M, and Lexus is building out its F line.

The second is its identity. It's most popular model (and arguably the most desired model) for the last 10 years has been its entry level sedan (and it's coupe derivative) in the G series. Sure BMW sells a ton of 3 series, but everyone who buys a 3 series sedan would rather have a 5 or 7 series and wants to work their way up through the brand. What G owner wants to eventually have an M instead? Many 3 series coupe buyers really want the M3. What is there within Infiniti for a G coupe owner to upgrade to?

The whole (optimal) purpose behind a car maker's lineup is to get buyers in at one level and guide them upward. I know you want that ATS sedan, but when you get a little further in life, you can get into a CTS, then maybe even a CTS-V. The Infiniti lineup is so grossly fragmented that it creates little opportunity for its owners to stay loyal once they outgrow their G coupe.

I think JDN saw that and was trying to get there. I think he was attempting to help the identity issue with the naming convention change, but he was stuck with the leftover vehicles. In two years' time there is little that could come to fruition to reflect the full metamorphosis that should have taken place, but they were able to address the performance piece of it.

The fact that he bailed could mean many things. It could mean he encountered too much pushback from the higher nissan executives. It could mean he missed his family at home. I get zero warm fuzzies, but I'm suspicious that the former holds truer than the latter.

[BusyBadger]

His straight-shooter answer (and excitement) regarding Infiniti's version of the Juke expanding into China was refreshing. He seemed to understand the enthusiasts that bought a car for more reasons tha to just get from A to B.

It's no wonder he left Nissan; a company that despite fielding GTRs at Le Mans this year and plans on doing the same next year, that makes three Nismo trimmed vehicles this year of varying costs in the GTR, Z and Juke with plans on the IDX, makes it difficult for dealerships to get Nismo parts (according to a parts manager I know). A lot of time it feels like Nissan is ashamed of its sporting heritage.

At this rate I'll be driving my Z at JCCS in twenty years because I'm (still) unimpressed with Nissan's offerings and not willing to give money to a company that doesn't understand why I buy a car, worse still, maybe they just don't care.

[szh]

http://jalopnik.com/infiniti-ceo-johan- ... 483721/all

It has been confirmed that he will be joining Cadillac.

I'm gravely concerned for the Infiniti brand, as I felt DeNysschen was pushing the brand in the right direction to be the Japanese answer to BMW. He's pretty much solely behind the Eau Rogue being built.

Maybe ... but he sure screwed up the model names of the Infiniti line-up, as far as I am concerned. Causes more confusion than anything else ...

I predict - without too much facetiousness: all the new Cadillac models will be renamed "Cxx" (with xx being numbers) shortly after he gets there.

Z

[MinisterofDOOM]

I predict - without too much facetiousness: all the new Cadillac models will be renamed "Cxx" (with xx being numbers) shortly after he gets there.

Right. Though, admittedly, that's barely better than ATS, CTS, XTS, and SRX. Sure, STS, DTS, and CTS once meant things, but they don't anymore (and two of those nameplates are dead now).

This is a name for a luxury car:

[Jesda]

He's going to hate GM's bureaucracy but their product offerings are better than ever. Interesting move.

Cadillac has the product together but marketing is currently a mess. Option packages, dealer experiences, and advertising are disjointed and lacking focus.

It's bad news overall for Infiniti, probably good news for Cadillac.

[szh]

I predict - without too much facetiousness: all the new Cadillac models will be renamed "Cxx" (with xx being numbers) shortly after he gets there.

Right. Though, admittedly, that's barely better than ATS, CTS, XTS, and SRX. Sure, STS, DTS, and CTS once meant things, but they don't anymore (and two of those nameplates are dead now).

Good point.

Z

[Rogue One]

Here's another story on this subject.

CAR & DRIVER: Ex-Audi leader Johan de Nysschen Leaves Chaos at Infiniti to Join Chaos at Cadillac

Barely two years after bringing his bucket and mop to the mess that is Nissan’s Infiniti luxury car division, boss and former Audi of America chief Johan de Nysschen has resigned and will be taking his cleaning supplies back to America as president of Cadillac. In his wake at Infiniti is a job that is, at best, only partially finished, while tumultuous Cadillac gets its third leader in two years.

Full story here: http://blog.caranddriver.com/ex-audi-le ... -cadillac/

[Bubba1]

GM evidently sees something in him that I don't. Let's see, he renamed the entire Infiniti product line, which had spent years establishing itself, into a silly, uninspired copy of Audi's "Q" with an extra digit. He's overseen tens of millions of dollars waste...I mean spent on F1, yet Infiniti offers no real sports cars and even phased out V8's. And his biggest accomplishments include grossly overpaying Sebastion Vettel for a no show job (though to be fair, he does wear an Infiniti baseball cap in public once in awhile and reads off a teleprompter adequately during an occasional Infiniti commercial), and after watching Nissan generate buzz stuffing a Nissan GTR motor into a Juke, he orders the same thing done with a sedan prototype and paints it....(gasp)... red. But also with a projected MSRP well above what their customer base can afford..

Yep, Cadillac can have him, and I wish him well. Buh bye.

[Jesda]

IT IS NOT AUDI'S Q

[Jesda]

Johan de Nysschen is not only a seasoned pro with an outstanding track record, he's simply one of the brightest minds in this business. His most recent stint at Infiniti is not why GM went after him, because the Infiniti assignment turned into a relentless slog for de Nysschen punctuated by the endless quagmire that defines the Nissan bureaucracy as writ large by Carlos Ghosn. No, the real reason GM went after him was because of his stellar performance at Audi of America, where he literally pulled VW's luxury-performance division up by its lapels and willed it to greatness, but more on that later.

de Nysschen's push to take Infiniti to the big leagues was met with resistance every inch of the way, because the legendary Nissan bureaucracy - and the ponderous "Nissan Way" of doing things - put paid to the notion that the powers that be at Nissan were truly ready to make the commitment that it would take to pull Infiniti up from its second-tier status to become the Japanese Audi.

And de Nysschen struggled mightily with that reality for two long years, pushing, cajoling, threatening and pushing some more, to no avail. He pushed Infiniti to garner some genuine performance credentials, because Nissan's luxury division was just waffling in the breeze of indecision. He aligned Infiniti with the Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team and signed its star driver and multi-World Champion Sebastian Vettel in an attempt at jump-starting the brand's street cred. And even though it was too early to tell if it was going to work over the long run, Infiniti started to move the needle at least a little.

But it was going to be a long hard road, easily a decade before Infiniti would start seeing results in the marketplace, that's how far afield the brand is from being in the thick of the fight. de Nysschen tried to get the Nissan bureaucracy to understand what they were up against and he kept bumping heads with the reality that the company was not only not ready, they didn't have the will to succeed. The Nissan bureaucracy believed it could kinda-sorta do enough to make Infiniti a player, but it wouldn't be nearly enough and it just wasn't going to play out that way and de Nysschen knew it.

http://www.autoextremist.com/

[darylzero]

AZhitman now is your chance Send in your resume!

[PapaSmurf2k3]

^hahaha that's good.

He really should go for it.

[RicerX]

Johan de Nysschen is not only a seasoned pro with an outstanding track record, he's simply one of the brightest minds in this business. His most recent stint at Infiniti is not why GM went after him, because the Infiniti assignment turned into a relentless slog for de Nysschen punctuated by the endless quagmire that defines the Nissan bureaucracy as writ large by Carlos Ghosn. No, the real reason GM went after him was because of his stellar performance at Audi of America, where he literally pulled VW's luxury-performance division up by its lapels and willed it to greatness, but more on that later.

de Nysschen's push to take Infiniti to the big leagues was met with resistance every inch of the way, because the legendary Nissan bureaucracy - and the ponderous "Nissan Way" of doing things - put paid to the notion that the powers that be at Nissan were truly ready to make the commitment that it would take to pull Infiniti up from its second-tier status to become the Japanese Audi.

And de Nysschen struggled mightily with that reality for two long years, pushing, cajoling, threatening and pushing some more, to no avail. He pushed Infiniti to garner some genuine performance credentials, because Nissan's luxury division was just waffling in the breeze of indecision. He aligned Infiniti with the Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team and signed its star driver and multi-World Champion Sebastian Vettel in an attempt at jump-starting the brand's street cred. And even though it was too early to tell if it was going to work over the long run, Infiniti started to move the needle at least a little.

But it was going to be a long hard road, easily a decade before Infiniti would start seeing results in the marketplace, that's how far afield the brand is from being in the thick of the fight. de Nysschen tried to get the Nissan bureaucracy to understand what they were up against and he kept bumping heads with the reality that the company was not only not ready, they didn't have the will to succeed. The Nissan bureaucracy believed it could kinda-sorta do enough to make Infiniti a player, but it wouldn't be nearly enough and it just wasn't going to play out that way and de Nysschen knew it.

http://www.autoextremist.com/

I agree with this guy. Infiniti has been pretty much slothing forward for a while now. I imagine that he was given the directive to "make it better" without spending anything extra. You can see how tentative Nissan is to do anything with any risk whatsoever, especially now that it's come to light over the last day or two that they're likely not going to produce the iDX because they can't figure out how to make one cheaply enough.

No balls. Just make crossovers. The only thing they've done with any risk at all is take their good performance cars and price them to oblivion over the course of the model's lifecycle in a sneaky attempt to recoup some costs (Z and GT-R).

I'm getting to the point where I'm looking at luxury sport for a daily driver, and I can't say that I'll be shopping Infiniti. At least Lexus is trying to make an exciting line of cars that appeal to younger buyers. I feel like I need an AARP card before I should buy a new Infiniti. I don't feel that way with Audi, BMW, or current gen Lexus. I'm on the fence with Cadillac.