Boston, MA 02/25/2013 (wallstreetpr) – There is a large disparity in the men: women workforce ratio in the Japanese auto industry. It is still a male dominated one, but things are changing and Nissan Motor Co., Ltd (TYO:7201) is emerging as a forerunner in the cause. The Nissan Note hatchback has been the company’s highest domestic seller and its sales have tripled over the last three months, its USP being the easy-to-open doors. And the woman behind the success of this highly popular car is Mie Minakuchi who said that she wanted a car that everyone will find easy to use, just as she does.
Prioritizing gender diversity
Though Nissan Motor Co., Ltd (TYO:7201) does not have a very strong international presence, it is outstanding in that 6.7 percent of the company’s management are women. In the U.S one out of three auto-industry managers are women. On the other hand there are less than 1 percent of women managers at TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION (TYO:7203) and Honda Motor Co Ltd (TYO:7267). The main reason for the dismal turnout of women in Japanese companies is the lack of child-care facilities at the workplace.
Global statistics
Fewer than 5 percent of board members of listed-companies in Japan are women. Shinzo Abe, Japan’s new Prime Minister has stated that women at work will be given more support by the administration and that more nursery places will be set up. Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn stated that female input is critical in engineering, product design, manufacturing as well as product distribution. Statistics have proved that the global equity of companies that had at least one woman board member was higher than those which had an all-male board. Nissan wants to take their initiative one step further and has a target of hiring 10 percent female managers by 2017.
Women power in Japanese homes
TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION (TYO:7203), Honda Motor Co Ltd (TYO:7267) and Nissan Motor Co., Ltd (TYO:7201) totally account for 80 percent of Japanese car sales figures and said that boosting diversity will be an important part of the growth agenda. Three out of four major-expense purchase decisions in Japanese homes are made by women or it is a joint decision with their husbands. Minakuchi who joined the company in 2001 said that fifty percent of the Nissan Motor Co., Ltd (TYO:7201) Note car buyers have been women and the company has added colors like ‘Bitter Chocolate” to target female buyers.
Women power at the workplace
Minakuchi worked her way up to being Nissan’s very first female, chief product specialist in 2009 and had gained a lot of designing experience by having worked on the Cube redesigning project. Yoko Yanai and Sachiko Aoki are two more women who have been appointed by Nissan Motor Co., Ltd (TYO:7201) as product chiefs. Nissan also gains in terms of employee retention when they promote female employees. Since the company started making a concerted effort with setting up child care centers the percentage of women had dropped from 22 percent in 2004 to 4 percent in 2011. Diversity in the Nissan ranks has led to definite company gains.
Shares of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd (TYO:7201) went up by 0.11% to close at $940.00
Shares of TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION (TYO:7203) went up by 1.37 % to close at $4795.00
Shares of Honda Motor Co Ltd (TYO:7267) went up by 1.59% to close at $3525.00
