Nissan working on affordable global EV, India part of the plan, says CEO Makoto Uchida

Nissan Motor Corporation's CEO, Makoto Uchida says the company is working on a "global affordable EV" and India is part of the future plan.

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo, Uchida says the pace of electrification globally is gathering pace and Nissan is therefore "transforming itself" to participate in this shift.

"We are working on an affordable A segment EV for the future. We do have a lot of plans. I do understand that the Chinese are coming up very strongly on EV, and as a pioneer we are prepared and we are getting ready to show our capabilities in the affordable end of the market. We are working on our cost competitiveness and we will introduce an EV, which will be acceptable (to a larger segment of buyers)," added Uchida.

To be sure, Nissan has globally sold over 1 million electric vehicles and even at the Japan Mobility Show the company premiered five different EV concepts - the highest by the company in any Motor Show. 

Nissan along with its alliance partner Renault earlier this year announced plans to invest $660 million investment in the country which will go into C segment EVs and A segment EV.

François Bailly who serves as SVP and Chief Planning Officer for the AMIEO (Africa, Middle East, India, Europe and Oceania region) told Autocar Professional, the company is planning to go “all-in” for an EV segment in India – explaining – that the approach will be to look at a skateboard all electric platform as against the ICE derived or multi-powertrain vehicle platforms for its EV foray, which has been successfully implemented by Tata Motors.

When queried if the company is exploring the Magnite EV, Bailly said, “Our approach is either all-in or don’t enter, we have decided to go all-in for EVs, as we are confident of a strong growth for EVs in India.”

With regards to localisation of cells and batteries, the Chief Planning Officer said, the company is currently studying the potential to localise in order to ensure that the vehicle is cost competitive and affordable.

Bailly says India is in the “top 3 markets globally” with a TIV (Total Industry Volume) of about 4 million and it is amongst the fastest growing markets in the world and one amongst a few markets, “which is still growing, has a potential to not only cater to the domestic market but also export globally,” he added.

And he hinted that A segment EV is just the start, and in the future the company may look at bringing more vehicles to the different end of the market.

To begin with, an imported Ariya EV for 2024 is being explored at present, but it is almost a given that the CMF-B platform on which its C segment SUVs for India is planned is also likely to spawn out an EV in the future.  

“The market for EVs in India is growing very fast and we expect the transition to happen strongly in the country. We want to be part of this transition and we will have a right alternative for the marketplace,” Bailly said.