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Tag: nissan

  • Nissan’s 54-year old CFO retires

    Nissan’s 54-year old CFO retires

    Joe Peter, who spent most of his career at General Motors, has retired as CFO of Nissan Motor Co. in Yokohama, Japan.

    Peter, 54, was recruited from GM’s senior finance ranks to Nissan during the 2009 financial crisis as Nissan struggled to stem losses and conserve cash amid crashing world markets.

    His replacement as CFO, effective immediately, is Hiroshi Karube, 62. Karube was previously senior vice president, global controller, accounting and global asset management.

    Efforts to reach Peter were unsuccessful.

    Peter was responsible for Nissan’s worldwide financial planning, control, accounting, treasury, tax, investor relations and merger and acquisition support. He also was a member of Nissan’s executive committee and chairman of the board of directors of the sales finance companies in Japan, United States and Mexico.

    A Detroit native and son of an assembly line worker, Peter rose at GM to the position of CFO of the automaker’s international operations in Shanghai before being recruited to Nissan.

    Karube went to work at Nissan in 1980 and has held several key roles in finance, including global responsibility for accounting and asset management.

  • Nissan, partner eye early 2020s robotaxi rollout

    Nissan, partner eye early 2020s robotaxi rollout

    Nissan is deepening collaboration with a Japanese mobile gaming and communications giant to develop self-driving taxis.

    Nissan wants the partnership to lift it ahead of its rivals in the nascent vehicle mobility services segment. But when it comes to realizing self-driving taxis that can pick up and drop off customers automatically on public roads without a glitch, the automaker acknowledges there is still a long way to go.

    Last month, Nissan Motor Co. and online tech company DeNA Co. field-tested Easy Ride robotaxis, involving some 300 participants.

    “This represents a big step toward enhancing self-driving cars and the mobility service operation system from the stage of just presenting a conceptual image,” Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa said during the launch. “This will help advance our business in offering a new mobility service for many customers in a variety of scenes.”

    The robotaxis are based on a modified Nissan Leaf electric vehicle. For their field testing, they traveled about two miles on a preset city route from Nissan’s headquarters in Yokohama to a nearby commercial facility.

    Collaborative effort

    Using a DeNA-designed smartphone app, users could hail a taxi by selecting a pickup time slot and specifying which of a list of preset destinations they wanted. A tablet computer installed inside the vehicle notified the passenger about recommended events in the area.

    Discount coupons for restaurants affiliated with Easy Ride were sent to the user’s smartphone.

    Such an online user experience could not have been possible without the help of DeNA, Nissan officials said.

    “Efficient and effective collaboration with partners who have expertise in their respective fields are the key to remaining competitive in the future,” Saikawa said. DeNA CEO Isao Moriyasu stressed that his company wants to bring innovation to the transportation system as a mobility service provider.

    The companies plan to introduce their robotaxi service commercially in the early 2020s. But they must resolve technical details before introducing a fully autonomous mobility service in a heavily congested urban environment.

    Easy Ride uses Seamless Autonomous Mobility, developed by Nissan from NASA technology, for its fleet operation system. That system allows vehicles to make decisions in unpredictable situations with the combined support of in-vehicle artificial intelligence and humans, according to Nissan. There will be a control center where people monitor Easy Ride fleets.

    Unexpected situations

    But technology challenges remain. Among them: perfecting the robotaxi’s ability to judge where it is most appropriate for loading and unloading passengers. Unexpected complications, such as road construction or a line of parked cars on the roadside, for example, wouldn’t faze a human driver. But altering behavior to accommodate unusual circumstances doesn’t come easily to an AI-powered, sensor-directed taxi without the aid of remote monitoring by humans at the control center.

    At a media test ride in mid-February, an Easy Ride vehicle unexpectedly stopped its self-driving mode just as it was about to get moving when a pedestrian walked in front of it. As a result, another test vehicle was brought in and the procedures had to be repeated.

    Nissan expected such glitches to occur during the field test, and is looking to incorporate the experiences into its development.

    Kazuhiro Doi, a global director of Nissan’s research division, admitted that the experiment was challenging, even in Yokohama’s waterfront area, with its wide streets and relatively light traffic.

    “Self-driving while trying to avoid so many parked cars is actually difficult,” Doi said of the research. “GPS signals are weak or cut off due to high-rise buildings. I thought it would be easy at first, but it has proven to be more challenging.”

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  • Nissan to pump $9.5 billion into China business, eyes top three spot

    Nissan to pump $9.5 billion into China business, eyes top three spot

    Nissan Motor Co plans to invest 60 billion yuan ($9.5 billion) in China over the next five years with its joint-venture partner as it seeks to become a top three automaker in the world’s biggest market.

    Long stuck as a second-tier player in China, Nissan and Dongfeng Group said on Monday they plan to boost their volume to 2.6 million vehicles a year by 2022, up from 1.5 million vehicles last year.

    Nissan plans to achieve the objective, dubbed its “Triple One” strategy, by focusing on electric cars and Venucia, a no-frills local brand Nissan operates in China – two market segments expected to see a surge in demand. It also aims to boost sales of light commercial vans and trucks.

    China’s auto market has been dominated by General Motors Co and Volkswagen AG for nearly two decades, with each of them selling 4 million vehicles last year. Nissan, along with Toyota Motor Corp , Ford Motor Co, and Honda Motor Co, lag far behind, each selling 1 million-plus vehicles a year.

    “We aim to break away from this second-tier group and become a top-3 China automaker,” Nissan’s China chief Jun Seki said in an interview with Reuters.

    “We need to go full-throttle aggressive,” Seki said. “If we didn’t do that, we would fall behind and fail to grab market share otherwise we could take.”

    ELECTRIC STRATEGY

    Part of the strategy is to keep growing the Nissan brand and the company’s premium Infiniti brand, Seki said.

    Nissan and Dongfeng plan to increase the Nissan brand’s annual sales by 500,000 vehicles to 1.6 million vehicles a year by 2022. It also plans to boost Infiniti’s annual sales by 100,000 vehicles to about 150,000 vehicles a year over the same time frame.

    Still, more critical a strategy is Nissan’s electrification plan.

    Seki said the joint venture will launch as many as 20 electrified vehicle models across all brands in an effort to sell roughly 700,000 such cars a year by 2022 excluding electric light commercial vehicles, using a combination of all-electric battery vehicles and so-called “e-Power” hybrids.

    Automakers are scrambling to launch an array of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles over the coming years, in part to comply with China’s production quotas for such cars. Nissan’s joint venture with Dongfeng sold about 22,000 electric vehicles last year, but they were mostly light commercial e-vans.

    In order to generate large enough EV volume, Nissan plans to come up with lower-cost electric cars by locally sourcing electric motors and other key EV components from suppliers in China.

    In 2019, Nissan for example plans to launch three such lower-cost EVs under the Venucia name. “We expect EV and e-power hybrid business to become profitable,” Seki said, without elaborating.

    NO-FRILLS

    Venucia, which Nissan established jointly with Dongfeng, is another key focus. The brand began selling cars in 2012, competing with China’s low-cost, no-frills indigenous brands such as those run by Geely and Great Wall Motor.

    Seki said shoring up Venucia is a must because indigenous Chinese brands will likely collectively sell as many cars as global brands sell in China. Last year indigenous Chinese brands sold a total of 10.3 million vehicles, compared with global brands’ 13.9 million vehicles.

    Venucia, which uses retired Nissan technologies such as platforms and transmissions, last year sold 143,000 vehicles, up 22.7 percent from 2016.

    Seki said Nissan wants to boost Venucia’s annual volume by more than 400,000 vehicles to be able to sell as many as 600,000 vehicles a year by 2022.

    The effort is likely to face tough competition, however, from established local players such as Baojun, which GM operates jointly with its local China partners.

    “No global automakers have a brand that competes with low-cost local brands except for us and GM,” Seki said. In addition to Baojun, GM operates the Wuling brand in a joint venture with Chinese partner SAIC Motor Corp and Guangxi Automobile Group.

    “Venucia is our clear advantage and we are going to milk it to grow rapidly,” Seki said.

  • Nissan’s ePower tech coming to U.S. vehicle

    Nissan’s ePower tech coming to U.S. vehicle

    Startled by enthusiastic consumer demand for ePower in Japan last year, Nissan Motor Co. now plans to introduce the electric motor-powered technology to its vehicles in the U.S.

    But unlike its Japanese application in the humble subcompact Note, Nissan will more likely use ePower here as an option on higher-end vehicles, said Philippe Klein, the automaker’s chief planning officer said last week.

    Klein did not say which Nissan brand products might receive ePower but suggested it will begin with higher-priced nameplates that can absorb the added cost of the powertrain.

    Meanwhile, Klein’s boss, Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa said that Infiniti will begin offering ePower in the near future. Saikawa said ePower will play a key role in Infiniti’s move to almost completely electrify its lineup starting in 2021.

    The technology, essentially a range extender, appears on the Note in Japan.

    Saikawa said that every Infiniti that appears in or after 2021 will either be a full electric vehicle or have an ePower powertrain.

    The technology reached the market in Japan as a powertrain option on the Note in late 2016. But in 2017, its first full year of availability, it had a 65 percent take rate on the car, Klein said.

    “Our strategy is to expand to other vehicles and to other markets,” Klein said. “It’s not only for small vehicles. We’re going to go to bigger vehicles.”

    The system is essentially a range extender in which an electric motor propels the vehicle at all times. A battery provides the power for the motor. A gasoline engine is used to charge the battery when necessary.

    The system delivers a fuel economy rating of about 77 mpg under Japan’s testing protocol, which is not comparable to U.S. testing methods.

    But Klein said fuel economy is only half the attraction to consumers. A second appeal is the powertrain’s exhilarating acceleration, he said, which is something that will appeal to buyers of any vehicle.

    “One part of it is the rational — lower gas costs. The other issue is emotional,” he said. “The driving experience is very close to that of an electric vehicle. Contrary to a conventional hybrid, you have the smooth acceleration of an electric vehicle.”

    Klein said that ePower has helped Nissan increase the revenue generated by the Note, and also has allowed Nissan to reposition the Note in Japan as a more upscale model.

    He added that Nissan believes the technology also provides an alternative to diesel powertrains in Europe.

    The company is considering offering ePower there as regulations make it harder to sell diesel vehicles.

    Its immediate benefit as a new source of fuel economy is not so clear for the U.S. market, he said. “But the benefits of being emotional and fun to drive might apply in the U.S. for some categories of vehicles,” he said. “So it’s part of the strategy.”

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  • Nissan’s Infiniti vehicles to go electric

    Nissan’s Infiniti vehicles to go electric

    Japanese carmaker Nissan Motor Co. plans to transform its upscale Infiniti brand of vehicles into a primarily electrified offering, Chief Executive Hiroto Saikawa said on Tuesday.

    All new Infiniti models launched from 2021 will be either electric or so-called “e-Power” hybrids, Saikawa told the Automotive News World Congress in Detroit.

    The announcement revives plans for a luxury electric offering that Nissan first touted with a 2012 Infiniti show car, but later scrapped over profitability concerns. That left the road clear for Tesla’s (TSLA.O) Model S, introduced the same year.

    “We are going to make Infiniti the premium and highly electrified brand,” Saikawa said on Tuesday.

    Nissan and alliance partner Renault (RENA.PA) took an early lead in battery-powered cars with models such as the 2011 Leaf, still the world’s top-selling electric vehicle.

    However, Tesla has hogged the limelight in recent years, while German carmakers are leading a $90 billion wave of investment in electric and plug-in hybrid cars.

    Nissan dropped the earlier electric Infiniti program in mid-2014 over concerns it would threaten the financial goals in its “Power 88” mid-term plan, according to people involved in those discussions. The company ended up missing its 8 percent margin target anyway, in fiscal 2017.

    Nissan is one of a number of Japanese carmakers seeking to jump-start a higher-end brand. Toyota (7203.T) is launching a revamped Lexus LS flagship, while Honda (7267.T) has been redesigning its Acura line in the hope of boosting sales.

    In the United States, Infiniti’s sales rose 11.3 percent last year in a light vehicle market that was down 1.5 percent overall, while Acura deliveries fell by 3.9 percent and Lexus by 7.6 percent.

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  • Global Electric Vehicle Market to Reach 10.8 Million Units by 2026

    Global Electric Vehicle Market to Reach 10.8 Million Units by 2026

    Increasing global concerns regarding the negative effect of climate change along with alarming pollution levels recorded in the major cities have created a demand for electric vehicles. A major factor behind the growth of electric vehicles is the support provided by various governmental agencies to encourage the sale of these vehicles.

    Furthermore, the well-established road infrastructure network has further aided the market for these vehicles, with charging points available more frequently on the civilian roads. Today, electric vehicles have transformed from an experimental mode of vehicle to a necessity, with automakers worldwide putting in efforts to make EVs available in all the economic ranges. This is evident from the meteoric rise in its sales over the last five years, with over 2 million electric vehicles on the road at present, as compared to a few thousands back in 2012.

    With number of initiatives and product developments taking place, it won’t be long before EVs occupy a significant share of the global automotive market. The market in terms of volume is estimated to witness growth at a CAGR of 28.3% over the period of 2017 to 2026. The report is a compilation of various segmentations including market breakdown by propulsion type, component type, vehicle type, and different geographical regions.

    The report provides a detailed market analysis and forecast with respect to different propulsion types in the electric vehicles market which are Battery Electric Vehicle and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV). On the basis of component, the electric vehicles market is segmented into battery, motor, and regenerative brake. While highlighting the key driving and restraining forces for this market, the report also provides a detailed study of the different vehicles that are analyzed, which include passenger and commercial vehicles.

    The report addresses the following key questions about the global electric vehicles market:
    • What is the global electric vehicles market size in terms of volume in the period 2017-2026?
    • Which is the dominant propulsion type by volume for the global electric vehicles market?
    • Which is the dominant vehicle by propulsion type in terms of volume in 2016?
    • What is the revenue generated by the different components in the global electric vehicles market in the period 2017-2026?
    • What is the revenue generated by the different components for different propulsion type in the global electric vehicles market in the period 2017-2026?
    • Which vehicle type will lead by volume in the global electric vehicles market by the end of the forecast period?
    • What are the different factors driving the market forward in the forecast period?
    • What are the major factors challenging the growth of global electric vehicles market?
    • Which type of new strategies are being adopted by the existing market players to make a mark in the industry?
    • Which region will lead the global electric vehicles market by the end of the forecast period?

    The report includes an exhaustive analysis of the geographical split into North America (the U.S and Canada), Europe (Germany, the U.K, France, Netherlands, and Norway), and Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, and South Korea). Analysis of each of the geographical regions details the individual push and pull forces in addition to the key players from that particular region.

    The report examines the role of the leading market players involved in the industry. The company profiles section includes highlights of significant information about the key companies involved, along with their financial positions, key strategies & developmental activities of recent years (2014-2017).

    Some of the key players are Tesla Inc. (U.S.), BYD Company Limited (China), Volkswagen AG (Germany), Nissan Motor Corporation (Japan), and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (Japan). EV components manufacturers such as Samsung SDI (South Korea), Automotive Energy Supply Corporation (Japan), LG Chem. (South Korea), Panasonic Corporation (Japan), and Continental AG (Germany).

    Executive Summary
    The automobile industry is one of the fastest-growing industries in the manufacturing sector. Intense global competition along with consumer preference driven innovation have been crucial factors driving the industry.

    However, the growing demand of and subsequent increase in the number of vehicles have contributed majorly to the depletion of non-renewable resources and deterioration of the earth’s atmosphere. A steep rise in the conventional fuel vehicle sales along with global population and urbanization has brought with it some serious concerns such as global warming and alarming pollution levels. There are innumerable issues that are plaguing the planet and the natural resources (especially fossil fuels) are declining at a rapid pace.

    This has consequently led the governments, environmental agencies, and automobile manufacturers to develop modes of transport that run on alternate means. Electric vehicles are considered the most desirable option of all the alternative forms of vehicles. The support of the governments of various nations and revolutionary developments by the automakers can be credited for the growing prominence of Electric Vehicles in the automobile industry.

    Several countries have pledged to ban the sale of gasoline-powered vehicles within the next two decades, with many others to follow. The Electric Vehicle Initiative launched in 2010 by some of the major countries across the globe is one of the many initiatives undertaken that are accelerating the growth rate of the market for EVs on a global scale.

    The report defines and estimates the market size in terms of volume and the section on electric vehicle components market size has been provided in terms of value. The global electric vehicles market is estimated to reach 10,761.42 thousand units by 2026. The market is driven by a number of factors such as stringent governmental regulations in terms of emissions and fuel economy, growing demand for fuel efficient vehicles, and governmental initiatives such as tax benefits and subsidies to promote the sales of electric vehicles. However, there are certain challenges which are inhibiting the overall growth for the global electric vehicles market such as high initial cost and time required to charge the electric vehicles.

    The global electric vehicles market has been fundamentally benefiting from the changing paradigms in governmental regulations and increasing environmental awareness among the consumers. BEVs held the highest market share in 2016 in terms of volume and is expected to grow at a higher growth rate as compared to PHEV.

    BEVs produce no pollution when being driven, as there is no gasoline interaction which means tailpipe pollution is zero. Factors such as improved charging infrastructure, governmental initiatives, and increased range are expected to propel the market growth for BEVs.

    Battery held the maximum share in the market and accounted for 68.8% share in 2016. Battery is the most important component of an electric vehicle and is used to power the main propulsion system.

    While a battery serves as the primary source of power in Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs), it works in tandem with a combustion engine in PHEVs and other conventional hybrids. The battery makes up substantial cost of an electric vehicle owing to its high price.

    The electric passenger cars held the highest share in the market in 2016 in terms of volume and is also expected to grow at a higher rate as compared to commercial vehicles. Factors such as governmental initiatives, urbanization, and increasing disposable income is responsible for such a gigantic share of electric passenger cars. A major factor expected to play the key role in the development of passenger electric vehicles is the development of adequate road infrastructure for easing the adoption of these vehicles.

    This report also covers the global electric vehicles market, by geography and consequently provides the volume of the key regions which include North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific (APAC). APAC dominated the global electric vehicles market by volume in 2016.

    The APAC automotive electric vehicles market is mainly dominated by the South Asian countries comprising of some of the biggest automotive producers in the world. The automotive market in the APAC region is growing rapidly, and the development of electric vehicles is gaining attention due to a collective effort from the government and manufacturers to initiate reforms and develop technologies which will promote the sale of these vehicles and make them economically efficient to use.

    Some of the key players in the electric vehicles market are Tesla Inc. (U.S.), BYD Company Limited (China), Volkswagen AG (Germany), Nissan Motor Corporation (Japan), and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (Japan). EV components manufacturers such as Samsung SDI (South Korea), Automotive Energy Supply Corporation (Japan), LG Chem.

    (South Korea), Panasonic Corporation (Japan), and Continental AG (Germany). These companies are aiming for an increased number of product launches and collaborations to expand their operations and prevent new companies from becoming potential future competitors.

  • Nissan India set to hike prices from January 2018

    Nissan India set to hike prices from January 2018

    Nissan Group of India on Tuesday announced a price revision across its Nissan and Datsun range of models.

    The prices of the Nissan and Datsun models will rise by up to Rs 15,000 effective 1 January 2018.

    Jerome Saigot, managing director, Nissan Motor India, said: “With the rise in input and manufacturing costs, Nissan has decided for a price hike across all the Nissan and Datsun models with effect from 1 January 2018. The revised pricing will help us to optimize our manufacturing efficiencies and continue to serve our customers pan-India.”

    Recently, Nissan and Datsun have been ranked among top 6 auto companies in India for customer satisfaction. The Datsun redi-GO has been ranked among the top 3 cars in the entry compact segment by the JD Power 2017 India Initial Quality Study.

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  • Nissan’s Japan car sales slide for second month after compliance scandal

    Nissan’s Japan car sales slide for second month after compliance scandal

    Nissan Motor Co’s sales of domestic passenger cars fell by almost half in November – its second straight month of slides in the wake of a compliance scandal and its first since it resumed production of cars for the home market.

    Revelations that Nissan failed to follow proper final inspection procedures for its domestic market cars have resulted in a recall of 1.2 million cars and a halt to production of vehicles it makes for the Japanese market over three weeks to early November.

    Japan’s second-biggest automaker has previously said it would take a month or so until production returns to regular levels.

    Its sales of passenger cars, excluding minivehicles, tumbled 46.8 percent in November from a year earlier to 16,888 vehicles, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said on Friday. That follows a slide of around 53 percent in October.

    Nissan said in October that uncertified inspectors had for decades signed off on vehicle checks required by the transport ministry for cars sold in the country. It has blamed staffing shortages and said it would increase the number of trained staff to prevent a recurrence of the issue.

    The checks are not required for exported vehicles.

    The scandal at Nissan has come amidst a raft of scandals at Japanese manufacturers that have raised questions about compliance and quality control, including a data falsification scandal at Kobe Steel Ltd (5406.T).

    Subaru Corp (7270.T) has also admitted it had not been following proper inspection issues going back around 30 years. Last month, sales of its passenger cars fell 13 percent from a year ago.

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  • Mitsubishi Motors swings to operating profit in second quarter

    Mitsubishi Motors swings to operating profit in second quarter

    Mitsubishi Motors Corp said on Tuesday it swung to an operating profit for the second quarter, beating expectations as it rebounded from a mileage-cheating scandal a year earlier helped by cost cuts and favorable exchange rates.

    Healthy demand in Southeast Asia, Mitsubishi’s top market also lifted earnings with the automaker saying it was seeing strong orders for its new Xpander seven-seater multipurpose vehicles in Indonesia.

    Operating profit came in at 23.6 billion yen ($207.3 million) for the quarter, compared with a loss of 36.2 billion yen a year earlier when it was forced to stop sales of some domestic models due to the scandal.

    That exceeded forecasts for 20.14 billion yen from four analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

    During the first-half, retail vehicle sales at home climbed 48 percent while those in southeast Asia rose 15 percent.

    Mitsubishi kept its forecast for operating profit to surge 14-fold to 70.0 billion yen in the year to March. That reflects the rebound from the scandal as well as expectations of further growth in Asia and cost savings from its alliance with Nissan Motor Co (7201.T).

    The car maker has set ambitious goals for growth in Southeast Asia, China and the United States as well as for a comeback in Japan. Last month, it said it planned to boost global sales by 30 percent over three years.

    Under its new three-year strategy plan – Mitsubishi’s first since Nissan bought a controlling stake in 2016 following the scandal – the Japanese automaker will also ramp up R&D investment and capital spending.

    The company has reorganized the engineering division involved in the mileage manipulation scandal and has improved testing processes and compliance procedures.

    It expects the yen to trade around 105 yen to the U.S. dollar in the year to March.

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  • Nissan’s October passenger car sales in Japan likely halved amid scandal

    Nissan’s October passenger car sales in Japan likely halved amid scandal

    Nissan Motor said Japan sales of new passenger vehicles probably fell by half in October from a year ago after the discovery of improper final inspection procedures at its domestic plants caused it to suspend some production.

    The Japanese automaker found last month that uncertified technicians had been carrying out final inspections of vehicles for decades. That has prompted it to recall 1.2 million vehicles, including all passenger cars it produced for sale in Japan over the past three years.

    The plants will resume production once the final inspection procedures have been brought in line with transport ministry requirements and the ministry has approved the measures, a spokesman for the automaker said.

    Nissan has completed those measures at one of its assembly plants and expects to have made similar changes at five other plants by the end of the week, he said.

    Tightened procedures will mean only certified inspectors will be allowed into the final inspection area, and there will be regular checks that inspections are carried out properly.

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  • Nissan’s domestic sales drop after inspection scandal

    Nissan’s domestic sales drop after inspection scandal

    Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Co Ltd’s domestic sales for the Oct. 1 to Oct. 20 period plummeted 20 percent following recent allegations of misconduct in its inspection procedures, the Nikkei said.

    The Yokohama-based automaker’s domestic sales fell to 12,300 units during the period, the newspaper reported. (s.nikkei.com/2lc9nAm)

    Last week, the country’s second-largest automaker said it would halt production of domestic market vehicles at all six of its Japanese assembly plants to consolidate their inspection lines to comply with the country’s transport ministry requirements.

    The inspection scandal was expected to end the company’s 11-month streak of year-on-year domestic sales growth through September, the business daily said.

    The company could not immediately reached for comment.

  • Nissan unveils new electric car in bid to drive off competition

    Nissan unveils new electric car in bid to drive off competition

    The new vehicle ‘strengthens’ the firm’s ‘leadership’ in the electric car sector.

    Japanese giant Nissan Wednesday unveiled a new electric car with an extended range and semi-autonomous driving functions, as it seeks to battle off competitors in a sector it once pioneered.

    The second-generation Nissan Leaf has a potential range of 400 kilometers (250 miles) between charges, compared with 250 kilometers for its previous version.

    It also boasts semi-autonomous driving capabilities such as keeping the vehicle automatically in one lane on the motorway or parking without human intervention.

    Hiroto Saikawa, president and chief executive officer of Nissan, said in a statement that the new vehicle “strengthens” the firm’s “leadership” in the electric car sector.

    Nissan was an innovator in the sector seven years ago when it unveiled its first Leaf — which has sold 280,000 units — but has since had to contend with fierce competition from General Motors and Tesla among others.

    Faced with tighter global environmental regulations, most carmakers are investing heavily in the electric car sector, sparking a ferocious race to create the next green vehicle.

    The new car will be available next month in Japan, followed by the United States, Canada and Japan in January 2018.

    The price tag in Japan will be 3.15 million yen (around $29,000).

  • Renault-Nissan to set up new China JV with Dongfeng Motor for electric cars

    Renault-Nissan to set up new China JV with Dongfeng Motor for electric cars

    Nissan Motor and its alliance partner Renault are setting up a new joint venture in China with Dongfeng Motor Group to design and build electric cars, joining a list of global automakers aiming to make such vehicles in China.

    The automakers are attempting to tap into a boom for such cleaner “new energy” vehicles in the world’s biggest auto market and gearing up to meet its anticipated stringent plug-in car quotas.

    Ford Motor Co announced earlier this month it was exploring setting up a joint venture with car maker Anhui Zotye Automobile Co to build electric vehicles in China under a new brand.

    Tesla, Daimler AG and General Motors have already announced plans for making electric vehicles in China, which wants electric and plug-in hybrid cars to make up at least a fifth of the country’s auto sales by 2025.

    The new joint venture, called eGT New Energy Automotive Co, will be owned 25 percent each by Nissan and Renault with Dongfeng owning 50 percent, Nissan and Renault said in a statement on Tuesday.

    They said eGT will design a new electric vehicle on a subcompact crossover SUV platform of the Renault-Nissan alliance.

    “The establishment of the new joint venture with Dongfeng confirms our common commitment to develop competitive electric vehicles for the Chinese market,” Carlos Ghosn, chairman and chief executive officer of the Renault-Nissan alliance, said in the statement.

    The statement did not give details of financial commitments of the joint venture partners or say by when the vehicles will be launched. Dongfeng already partners Nissan in China.

    Both Nissan and Renault already market electric cars. Nissan’s Leaf compact hatchback has become the world’s top-selling electric car since its launch in 2010, while Renault began selling its Zoe model in 2012.

    The game changer for global automakers, many of whom until recently have resisted an industry shift to heavily electrified vehicles, is China – an auto market with strong potential for growth where stringent policies favoring cleaner energy cars are being aggressively pursued.

    Under China’s latest proposals, electric vehicle sales quotas, which are expected to take effect as early as 2018, are due to require 8 percent of automakers’ sales to be battery electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles by next year, rising to 10 percent in 2019 and 12 percent in 2020.

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  • Nissan to sell its electric battery business to GSR Capital

    Nissan to sell its electric battery business to GSR Capital

    Nissan Motor Co said on Tuesday it has agreed to sell its electric battery business to Chinese investment firm GSR Capital for an undisclosed sum.

    The business to be sold to GSR includes battery plants in Tennessee, England and Japan, the Japanese automaker said in a statement.

    Nissan will first take full control of the business – Automotive Energy Supply Corp – by buying the combined 49 percent minority stake held by NEC Corp and its subsidiary NEC Energy Devices. NEC Corp said it has approved the sale of its stake.

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  • Nissan expects up to 20 percent of sales to be zero emission cars by 2020

    Nissan expects up to 20 percent of sales to be zero emission cars by 2020

    Nissan Motor expects that zero-emission cars will make up to 20 percent of its sales in Europe by 2020, Gareth Dunsmore, Electric Vehicle (EV) Director for Nissan Europe said in a statement on Monday.

    Nissan said it welcomed France’s commitment to reward those who choose more sustainable vehicles.

    Last week, Ecology Minister Nicolas Hulot said France would aim to end the sale of gasoline and diesel vehicles by 2040 and become carbon neutral 10 years later.

    “By 2020, where the market conditions are right, I’m confident we’ll be selling up to 20 percent of our volume as zero emissions vehicles and this will only grow,” Dunsmore was quoted as saying in an emailed statement.

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