 "Nissan's Global COO Ashwani Gupta")
There are two nations which are close to the heart of 49-year-old Ashwani Gupta, the youngest soon-to-be Chief Operating Officer of Japanese automajor Nissan - India and Japan. As an intense traveller, he makes sure that one of his vacation trips every year should be to an Indian destination. He cherishes Indian food, Bollywood films and Hindi language. He was quick to learn and speak fluent Japanese and understand the culture as a young engineer at Honda in rural Japan in 1998 and also named his second daughter, Megumi (means blessing), a Japanese name.
Gupta, who is recently appointed as representative executive officer and COO by Nissan board of directors effective January 2020, worked in many countries over the last two decades, but savours his favourite destination as his home and keeps the Japanese culture close to his heart.
"I came to Japan with my family on March 11, 2011 when all the expats went back because of the fear due to earthquake. I am very fortunate to be so warmly welcomed by Japanese society and I feel a deep sense of personal and professional integration in the community," he says.
Gupta joined as General Manager of purchasing at Renault-Nissan in Mumbai in 2006. He moved to the Renault Nissan Purchasing Organization in Paris in 2008, as global supplier account manager for braking systems. In 2011, he was appointed as global program director for Datsun programmes at Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. in Japan, where he led the product development to launch in India, Russia, Indonesia and South Africa. He developed worldwide business links working as an expatriate in France and Japan. He is currently Representative Executive Officer, COO, MMC.
He has worked with Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi alliances for more than a decade stitching together a formidable combination.
"I was fortunate to have the opportunity to bring that power to life during my leadership roles in Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi. The idea was simple: I always took a step back and thought over the purpose of how I can develop the vision and business mission for all three companies individually and collectively," he said.
"The key to it is to use each other's complimentary strength. In a true collaborative partnership, each entity wins, as the alliance is a tool to strengthen our brand and empower us to stand strong as our own company," said Gupta.
Under his leadership all three alliance companies grew their LCV business and were making profits, in spite of the slowdown in the auto industry during 2017-18.
"My target was to boost each company's performance by unleashing the full market potential and using synergies across the brands. Renault is a leader in vans; Nissan makes great trucks, and Mitsubishi has expertise in frame vehicles with a strong market presence in South East Asia," he recalls.
India strategy
Back at the home turf now he has his task clearly cut-out. It's not a completely unfamiliar situation for him as the Auto industry is once again facing a considerable slowdown. But Gupta is confident of tackling the situation.
Acknowledging the significant changes that the auto industry is going through, he says that there are five mega trends that are impacting the industry. "The world is moving fast to an age of deglobalisation and regionalisation and the demographics is changing, with countries like India and Vietnam, there is an increase in working population while countries like Japan are seeing more non-working population, which drive need for specific products. Added to this, tough global economic conditions are challenging financial costs. There are disruptive trends like AI, IoT, connected cars and the customer evolution where car is no longer a commodity. Lastly, increasing environmental challenges demanding immediate solutions like electrification and other related technologies.
"These challenges ask for highly diversified investments for comparatively less economies of scale driving manufactures to prioritize investments, consider capacity, capability and ROI," he said. Though he prefers to play his cards safe, believes Nissan has pioneered industry leading innovations and established a strong leadership in EV and is confident that this will continue to be of a big focus in the coming years.
Gupta, who closely follow the Indian automotive industry, says that the five trends he mentioned are also impacting the industry. "The recent slew of measures by the government has not provided any significant boost to the industry. We definitely need stronger measures to drive the industry and bring back market sentiment," he said.
Those who worked with him recalls that his success at the top becomes evident as he prefers to lead from the front. Over the span of his career, he always remained accountable for every component of the automotive value chain, he has paid close attention on his work and always lend a supporting hand to his team. Lastly, he had the courage to take new challenges as entrepreneur, turn around, grow and sustain, they say.
"I enjoy what I do. I don't mind working over weekends as long as it doesn't cause discomfort to me or my family. I can perfectly balance life without dividing it into sections," said Gupta.
Stepping the success stones one after another, Gupta and family has changed 19 houses and lived in different continents. His wife Gayatri, a home maker whom he refers as a pillar of his success, has ensured to keep 3 things constant in their life - Indian food, Bollywood, and Hindi language.
"My kids speak Hindi perfectly. I have two daughters Ayushi and Megumi. Ayushi is a doctor and Megumi is pursuing industrial engineering," he said. As hobby, he enjoys cooking for the family and says his favorite vacation spot is India.
"My father was a great inspiration. However, my mother was the most defining figure in my life. My father was a renowned wood scientist who had worked on eucalyptus trees. Though, I lost him when very young I remember him fondly," he added.
Graduated from Jawaharlal Nehru Engineering College, India, and obtained a diploma from The Indian Institution of Export and Import Management, he studied at the European Centre for Executive Development, in association with INSEAD, London Business School and Harvard Business School.
