Ten topics with Joni Paiva, president of Nissan Canada
FROM THE SIMPLE LOVE OF MOTORCYCLES TO THE INTRICATE SWISS WATCH THAT IS RUNNING A COMPANY
With more than 20 years of collective experience with Renault and Nissan, Joni Paiva became Nissan Canada’s president in January 2016. He inherited a company on a big upswing, the legacy of management by the previous president, Christian Meunier, now the senior vice- president of sales, marketing and operations for Nissan North America.
Continuing t hat upward swing, Nissan just announced its fourth straight year of record sales, a feat Paiva hopes to continue, thanks to the introduction of the Qashqai later this year. Paiva expects it will immediately vault to No. 1 on Nissan’s sales charts and be an immediate hit in the subcompact CUV segment.
Paiva began his career at Renault in 1993, and worked as Zone Manager for Mercosur and Chile in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he was in charge of product planning and local production for Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay. He became general manager at Renault in France in 1999 and, in 2013, Paiva was named director, chief marketing manager at Nissan North America.
Paiva is also an avowed motorcycle enthusiast, taking particular interest in the famed Dakar Rally.
We asked t he man in charge of continuing Nissan Canada’s success to complete these sentences:
1) THE CAR THAT INSPIRED ME TO WORK IN THE CAR INDUSTRY…
... wasn’t actually a car. I’m a huge motorcycle enthusiast. I started working with motorbike engines when I was 14. Then, at the age of 16, I got my driver’s licence and inherited my brother’s Su- zuki 125. I also had a Yamaha 125 DTMX … I burned three pistons with that one.
2) MY FIRST CAR WAS …
… my dad’s car, a handme-down Opel Kadett 1974.
3) MY FIRST JOB IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY WAS …
… working at the manuf acturing plant. When I joined Renault out of school they told me, “Very well, Mr. Paiva, you have diplomas, you speak languages, you’ve travelled abroad, that’s all very good but you know what … you have more to learn and you’re going to start in the plant.” I worked in the plant that produces aftersales parts, so I had to work with motor engines and pack them. It was actually really fun and I learned a lot. After that, they sent me to a dealership to sell cars.
4) MY FAVOURITE NISSAN …
… you might be surprised to hear, is the Leaf. Seriously, I love the driving experience, I love the silence. I used to drive my kids to school in an Infiniti QX80 and they liked it very much, but I will never forget the day I got a Leaf. They liked it even more! It was quiet and comfortable and really fun to drive. It has great acceleration.
5) IF I COULD DRIVE ANY ONE OF OUR COMPETITORS’ PRODUCTS, IT WOULD BE …
… a Jeep. A real military Jeep. From the Second World War, the Jeep Willys. I really love that vehicle and had a lot of fun with my kids in France, where my wife’s grandfather had a fantastic, perfectly restored example. It was a fantastic adventure every time we started that car.
6) I LEARNED MOST FROM….
… two people who have impacted me a lot in my career. The first was Jean Louis Ricaud, an EVP ( executive vice- president) of Engineering and Quality for Renault Group, who I worked for as an executive assistant. He was fantastic and had a brilliant vision for everything, a very global vision. He was incredible. The other is Bill George, the guy who taught me a course at Harvard Business School about authentic leadership. He was the previous CEO of Medtronic and his lesson was that it’s all about being yourself when managing and leading and ensuring that you never play a role. You must always live up to your own core values. That’s when you are your best. He wrote a book called Finding Your True North and his mission now is to teach people how to be true to themselves when leading.
… building a Swiss watch. Every piece is an important element and everything has to work perfectly together. It’s a complex industry — not complicated, but complex. So it involves lots and lots of fantastic things working together.
8) THE BIGGEST LESSON I’ VE LEARNED SINCE MOVING TO CANADA IS …
… that you can be very polite, but also very tough. When I joined Nissan Canada, I was telling everybody that Canadians are very nice people and the lady who helped me with the relocation, she said, “Yes, they are polite.” Then I found out what it means. It means that Canadians can be very tough with you, but very polite and with a smile on their face. And guess what, I like that because it costs you less energy; because when you get mad and nervous, it’s a waste of energy.
9) THE FUTURE OF MICRA CUP IS …
… very bright! The third season starts this spring and beyond that, the future likely holds something bigger. Right now, it is an event full of passionate people who have a lot of fun and have a fantastic time. In the future, we will connect with even more of these people.
10) MY IDEAL THREE- CAR GARAGE WOULD BE FILLED WITH …
… a Nissan Leaf, a Nissan Murano and one of those Jeep Willys I mentioned.