What do you get when you SHIFT and do a 360º turn?

WELL, if you are NISSAN, you get to do a lot! And that they did in the city of San Francisco in June of this year with 70 production Nissan driving all over town, 30 countries represented by over 500 journalists and analysts, during 18 days, more than 30 display vehicles to enjoy and look at, and that mis amigos was possibly the biggest media event I have ever seen in my automotive career of 24 years.

The Nissan 360 tour was held in the bay area to give us journalists a global look at their capabilities and operations around the world, together with an ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity to experience all the Nissan and Infiniti vehicles from North America, Mexico, Japan and Europe.

I can just imagine the logistical nightmare for all the folks involved at Nissan of bringing over the Pacific this immense squadron of over seventy striking, as well as regular and concept cars, SUV’s, minivans and trucks, to then flawlessly fuse them in perfect harmony with over 500 automotive journalists in less than 3 weeks time, give us all a great time, abundant information about the company, its present status, vision and goals for the future, plenty of ‘behind the wheel’ time for all of us in whichever model car we wanted, outstanding hotel and meals, but most importantly, getting their message across with Nissan’s new global tagline - SHIFT – which is what Nissan is all about. Personal kudos to many of my friends at Nissan like ‘Timbo’, Gina Pasco, Scott, Kurt, Simon, Dean, Megan, Erik, and the dozens and dozens who made it all seemed so flawlessly but worked their tail off to make it all happen impeccably. Thanks guys!

This SHIFT tagline or key slogan will be found globally. According to Nissan Motor Co. LTD’s President and CEO, Carlos Ghosn –”Everything we touch, we SHIFT, and everything we SHIFT, we try to make better”. He went on to tell us that SHIFT also represents a philosophy of the will to “react” because the products are so unique.

Speaking to us from the historic waterfront hotel The Argonaut - named for the Gold Rushers who sought their fortune here, a luxury Kimpton Boutique Hotel in the heart of Fisherman’s Wharf, Mr. Ghosn welcomed us on behalf of Nissan and their 130,000 employees worldwide and thanked us for being part of such a historical meeting, where Nissan would share an updated global perspective that could only be experienced firsthand. –”You’ll have the opportunity to drive nearly 70 Nissan and Infiniti products from around the world, view recent concept cars and technology displays, and hear from many of our top executives about the company’s growing capabilities and future plans”.

-”Recently, I announced the Nissan Value-Up Plan which focuses on sustained profitability and significant growth worldwide. Nissan Value-Up implementation begins next April but Nissan 360 is a preview of some building blocks that will allow us to achieve our goals over the next several years”, Mr. Ghosn told us.

-”I hope you will enjoy your 360 experience and that it provides you with a fresh look at Nissan as a truly global, truly integrated, truly thoughtful company”.

And it did Mr. Ghosn! The wealth of information most of us received was truly amazing, not to mention the variety of vehicles we were fortunate to test drive, and I thank you for such a wonderful event.