Bob Thomas, former U.S. boss of Nissan, dies at 69 - Automotive News
NASHVILLE -- Bob Thomas, who led Nissan’s U. S. sales operations in the 1990s before joining AutoNation Inc. The 1967 graduate of the U. S. Air Force Academy spent 10 years in field sales with Lincoln-Mercury before joining Nissan in 1982. He served as CEO of Nissan Motor Corp. It was a period of growing financial strain at the carmaker’s Japanese parent company, a condition that hindered Nissan’s ability to bring new products to market. Late in his Nissan tenure, as sales declined, Thomas drew flak from Nissan dealers over the company’s national ad campaign. Strapped by what dealers considered a dearth of fresh products, the company shifted its advertising focus to brand awareness through humorous TV spots that said little about the cars. One ad featuring a G. I. Joe doll driving away with a Barbie doll in a toy 300ZX. Another ad showed pigeons in military uniforms attempting to soil the paint of a Maxima. The Thomas-era ads included a mysterious elderly Japanese man identified as “Mr. K” -- representing Yutaka Katayama, the gutsy Japanese executive who had introduced Nissan to the United States as Datsun. Behind the scenes, Thomas pressed the Japanese parent company to invest more money in the United States, particularly the growing U. S. truck market. Dealers wanted a full-sized pickup to separate Nissan from most of its Japanese competitors – something they would not receive until the arrival of the Titan in 2003. The U. S. company’s urgings would result in the development of the surprisingly... Source: www.autonews.com
