Nissan Lannia sedan aims at up-and-comers
If the design of Nissan Motor Corp.'s newest car for China looks in-your-face, over-the-top and brash with no apologies, then so is the latest consumer trend it aims to tap.
Daqi, the Chinese term encompassing a desire for status, pomp and harmony, is so yesterday. In today's China, consumer taste is all about baqi, a flamboyant individuality that stands out from the crowd. That is the driving force behind China's coveted up-and-coming younger generation.
And Nissan thinks it has nailed the formula with its designed-for-China Lannia sedan, a head-turning design even the chief engineer acknowledges probably wouldn't fly in other markets.
The gambit underscores the contortions that global manufacturers go through to adapt to China's rapidly changing automotive landscape. Nissan's move is part of a recalibration by many brands trying to capture a key emerging customer group.
The prize: a gargantuan population of Chinese buyers in their 20s who dare to be different.
They number some 240 million people, according to IHS Automotive, and their product choices will play a big role in deciding which brands will be tomorrow's winners in China.
Nissan says the demographic will represent more than half the market by year end.
"They grew up in a period in which China experienced tremendous growth in its economy and in its influence in the world. They grew up with a very different mentality that they don't need to follow more developed countries like Europe, the U.S. or Japan," says John Zheng, 38, the Lannia's chief engineer. "We set our own trends. We're the new China. We're strong. We want to express ourselves. They want to stand out. Everything is me-centric. It's about me."
The Lannia, which means blue bird in Chinese, gets some of the latest design cues that appear in global Nissan nameplates. That includes the V-shaped grille and floating roof seen in the latest redesigns of the Murano crossover and Maxima sedan. But it takes the styling a step further.
Menacing and mean
There's the dramatically creased hood and fenders. They stand next to the wild lines of the Juke compact crossover as one of Nissan's stand-alone designs. Then there is the aggressively angled C-pillar. It cuts a narrow rear greenhouse and gets a blacked-out kink for emphasis.
The overwrought flourishes aim to tap that taste for baqi.
"Literally it [baqi] means menacing, a little bit mean and aggressive," Zheng said. "It looks very mean. That's the initial impress we want to give. It's directly related to baqi."
Nissan picked China native Zheng to lead a team of engineers tasked with tailoring the Lannia specifically to Chinese tastes. Key to the goal was a team of 20-something designers, all from China, who styled the car. The lead designer was the only member over 30.
"One of the most debated points was styling," Zheng recalled. "How far we wanted to push Lannia actually did unsettle a few nerves. ... We really had to educate our Japanese counterparts."
It is difficult for foreigners to keep up with the latest trends of China's younger generation, Zheng said -- hence the importance of empowering young Chinese staffers to make the calls.
Old guard daqi nameplates are exemplified by the Audi A6L or BMW 7-series sedans that ooze status and conformity. The counterculture baqi counterpart might be a loud Land Rover SUV.
The shift in consumer tastes toward baqi cars has helped fuel the boom in small crossovers and SUVs, especially among younger buyers. Those vehicles cut a unique silhouette that stands out as different on China's roads, and drivers can sit up high and lord it over other cars.
"The intent of Nissan is to appear more individualistic with the Lannia, at least from a marketing perspective," said James Chao, managing director for Asia Pacific at IHS Automotive.
It is part of a larger trend of automakers in China redoubling their focus on young buyers.
"The rationale in all cases, Nissan included, is to start with the youngest generations, then serve them over their lifetimes with additional vehicles as they age," Chao said.
Hard to keep up
The Lannia is Nissan's interpretation of what they want -- on the inside and out.
To keep pace with rapidly changing trends, for example, Nissan's engineers had to tear up the car's blueprint for information technology several times.
One big change was switching to Chinese developers who could ensure that the onboard system worked with local smartphone apps. Simply accommodating a global standard for Apple or Google apps wouldn't cut it.
"The challenge for our team is really to keep up with the young Chinese who are changing constantly," Zheng said. "We had to react very quickly. We had to throw away our original specs for the IT system quite a few times to keep up with the latest trends."
The overhauls included moving from USB and Bluetooth connectivity to in-car WiFi and several tweaks to speed up the system so that apps would pop up faster for impatient hipsters.
But winning young first-time buyers is just half the battle, say analysts.
"A greater challenge will be to retain these customers," said Janet Lewis, managing director for Asia transportation research at Macquarie Capital Securities in Hong Kong.
"With such a young market, there is no brand loyalty."
The Lannia goes on sale in China -- and only China -- this fall. Nissan hopes it will stoke the Japanese brand's fortunes amid tepid sales in China. After the car's debut at this year's Shanghai auto show, the Lannia won the show's Best New Model to Come award.
And Nissan thinks it has nailed the formula with its designed-for-China Lannia sedan, a head-turning design even the chief engineer acknowledges probably wouldn't fly in other markets.
The gambit underscores the contortions that global manufacturers go through to adapt to China's rapidly changing automotive landscape. Nissan's move is part of a recalibration by many brands trying to capture a key emerging customer group.
The prize: a gargantuan population of Chinese buyers in their 20s who dare to be different.
They number some 240 million people, according to IHS Automotive, and their product choices will play a big role in deciding which brands will be tomorrow's winners in China.
Nissan says the demographic will represent more than half the market by year end.
"They grew up in a period in which China experienced tremendous growth in its economy and in its influence in the world. They grew up with a very different mentality that they don't need to follow more developed countries like Europe, the U.S. or Japan," says John Zheng, 38, the Lannia's chief engineer. "We set our own trends. We're the new China. We're strong. We want to express ourselves. They want to stand out. Everything is me-centric. It's about me."
The Lannia, which means blue bird in Chinese, gets some of the latest design cues that appear in global Nissan nameplates. That includes the V-shaped grille and floating roof seen in the latest redesigns of the Murano crossover and Maxima sedan. But it takes the styling a step further.
Menacing and mean
There's the dramatically creased hood and fenders. They stand next to the wild lines of the Juke compact crossover as one of Nissan's stand-alone designs. Then there is the aggressively angled C-pillar. It cuts a narrow rear greenhouse and gets a blacked-out kink for emphasis.
The overwrought flourishes aim to tap that taste for baqi.
"Literally it [baqi] means menacing, a little bit mean and aggressive," Zheng said. "It looks very mean. That's the initial impress we want to give. It's directly related to baqi."
Nissan picked China native Zheng to lead a team of engineers tasked with tailoring the Lannia specifically to Chinese tastes. Key to the goal was a team of 20-something designers, all from China, who styled the car. The lead designer was the only member over 30.
"One of the most debated points was styling," Zheng recalled. "How far we wanted to push Lannia actually did unsettle a few nerves. ... We really had to educate our Japanese counterparts."
It is difficult for foreigners to keep up with the latest trends of China's younger generation, Zheng said -- hence the importance of empowering young Chinese staffers to make the calls.
Old guard daqi nameplates are exemplified by the Audi A6L or BMW 7-series sedans that ooze status and conformity. The counterculture baqi counterpart might be a loud Land Rover SUV.
The shift in consumer tastes toward baqi cars has helped fuel the boom in small crossovers and SUVs, especially among younger buyers. Those vehicles cut a unique silhouette that stands out as different on China's roads, and drivers can sit up high and lord it over other cars.
"The intent of Nissan is to appear more individualistic with the Lannia, at least from a marketing perspective," said James Chao, managing director for Asia Pacific at IHS Automotive.
It is part of a larger trend of automakers in China redoubling their focus on young buyers.
"The rationale in all cases, Nissan included, is to start with the youngest generations, then serve them over their lifetimes with additional vehicles as they age," Chao said.
Hard to keep up
The Lannia is Nissan's interpretation of what they want -- on the inside and out.
To keep pace with rapidly changing trends, for example, Nissan's engineers had to tear up the car's blueprint for information technology several times.
One big change was switching to Chinese developers who could ensure that the onboard system worked with local smartphone apps. Simply accommodating a global standard for Apple or Google apps wouldn't cut it.
"The challenge for our team is really to keep up with the young Chinese who are changing constantly," Zheng said. "We had to react very quickly. We had to throw away our original specs for the IT system quite a few times to keep up with the latest trends."
The overhauls included moving from USB and Bluetooth connectivity to in-car WiFi and several tweaks to speed up the system so that apps would pop up faster for impatient hipsters.
But winning young first-time buyers is just half the battle, say analysts.
"A greater challenge will be to retain these customers," said Janet Lewis, managing director for Asia transportation research at Macquarie Capital Securities in Hong Kong.
"With such a young market, there is no brand loyalty."
The Lannia goes on sale in China -- and only China -- this fall. Nissan hopes it will stoke the Japanese brand's fortunes amid tepid sales in China. After the car's debut at this year's Shanghai auto show, the Lannia won the show's Best New Model to Come award.
