Nissan launches EV for China to compete in the top auto market. On Tuesday, Nissan Motor (7201.T) presented a new electric SUV at the Shanghai auto show, pledging its commitment to the Chinese auto market, which it claimed would continue to lead the electric car revolution.
Nissan has traditionally relied on China, but like other global automakers, it confronts growing competition from domestic automakers.
At the exhibition, Ashwani Gupta, Nissan’s COO, announced that Nissan would offer a Chinese market EV.
“China has already crossed the tipping point of accepting the electrified car as a modern car,” Gupta remarked on the show’s sidelines. “Nissan does not want to miss this opportunity.”
Arizona, the company’s new car, will have a virtual personal assistant, Eporo, and a low center of gravity without structural pillars, which Gupta said makes the car’s interior more spacious.
Nissan, which pioneered the worldwide electric vehicle (EV) industry with the Leaf, has fallen behind Tesla Inc. (TSLA.O) and BYD (002594. SZ) in China.
For safety or competitiveness, Gupta said that Nissan would create “advanced mobility” software in-house, including battery management and autonomous driving systems.
“Software which is more commoditised, more coming from outside IT companies like Google and Microsoft and so on, definitely we are collaborating with them to have (such software) in our car,” he added.
Last month, Reuters reported that Nissan’s high-tech production line had slowed delivery of the Ariya crossover, a car meant to revive the Japanese carmaker.
Nissan aims to release 19 battery EVs by 2030, starting with the Ariya. However, s&P Global Ratings downgraded Nissan’s debt to junk, saying profits and sales volumes will not rise as soon as predicted.
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