Nissan working on an array of electrified vehicles for China

Tokyo — Six months after unveiling its revamped battery-powered Leaf, Nissan Motor is pressing ahead with plans for an array of electrified vehicles in a bid to boost sales of the cars six-fold in five years.

The Japanese car maker set itself an annual target of selling 1-million new-energy vehicles, including those with its e-Power power trains, by the year ending March 2023, it said in a statement on Friday. The plan includes developing eight pure electric vehicles (EVs) and staging an offensive in China under different brands, it said.

The maker of the Leaf, once the world’s best-selling EV, is looking to regain the lead it had lost to rivals, including Tesla, as the rapidly expanding market gets crowded with Chinese start-ups and other established manufacturers, such as Volkswagen (VW) and General Motors. Facing a market that is leveling out in the US and waning demand at home, Nissan is spending ¥1-trillion ($9.5bn) over five years, in China, to help tap buyers.

"Our strong China offensive will start this year, led by a Nissan EV in the C-segment, deriving from the Leaf technology, with a body type adapted to the Chinese customers’ taste," chief planning officer Philippe Klein told reporters in Tokyo on Friday. Two models will be under the Venusian brand, he said.

The car maker sold a record 1.52-million vehicles in China last year, compared with 1.59-million in the US, its top market. China will contribute almost a third of its targeted revenue of ¥16.5-trillion by fiscal 2022 under the mid-term plan, becoming the single-biggest market for the car maker.

Already the largest Japanese car maker in China, Nissan is planning to introduce 20 electrified models by 2022 in the world’s biggest market. Under the plan, electrified cars will account for 30% of all sales in 2022, and by 2025, all Infiniti models will be electrified, the car maker had said earlier.

Nissan also proposes to have Pro Pilot autonomous-drive technology in 20 models in 20 markets by 2022, and offer connectivity for all new Nissan, Infinity and Datsun cars by then.

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Source: https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/companies/2018-03-23-nissan-working-on-an-array-of-electrified-vehicles-for-china/