Launching the Magnite in times of the Pandemic: Nissan's resurgence in India

In 2019, Nissan India found itself facing a turbulent market situation as it contested market space against 14 competitors. Some of its recent product launches had not been well-received, and dealers nationwide were sceptical of associating with Nissan. The following year, Nissan appointed Rakesh Srivastava as the new Managing Director of Nissan Motor India Ltd. By the end of 2019, Srivastava had revamped the entire Nissan team and, by early 2020, he began to prepare for what would be Nissan's India market turnaround - the launch of the Magnite in the compact SUV market, one of India's fastest-growing personal vehicle segments. However, soon after the Magnite was conceived, the Covid-19 pandemic set in, and India went into an unprecedented lockdown. The economy came to a standstill, and every part of the value chain from brand communication, product launch, supply chain to customer service was paralysed. Nissan had to make several changes to meet emerging challenges at each step. Through concerted efforts, Nissan overcame hostile market forces and a negative reputation to emerge as the fastest-growing player in the market. It passed the 50,000 units manufactured milestone for the Magnite within two years, which provided a much-needed boost to its declining share and relevance in the Indian market. The case outlines the journey of Nissan Magnite's launch and draws lessons from the product launch.

• Strategy management
• Entrepreneurship
• Innovation
• Sales and marketing