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It has been just two months since I became Chairman of Nissan’s Management Committee for our China Operations. This has been one of the most thrilling times of my career at Nissan.
One of my first acts in this new role came at the Beijing Motor Show, where I was honored to announce our first electric vehicle developed and manufactured in China specifically for the Chinese market. The SYLPHY Zero Emission is Nissan’s second-ever passenger EV and one that’s built upon the best-selling Nissan model in China — SYLPHY.
China is one of the most exciting and dynamic markets in the world, especially when you look at the rapid growth in the EV segment. That’s why the SYLPHY Zero Emission is the first of 20 electrified models we plan to introduce in the next five years as part of our ambitious plan to be the number one EV automaker in China. As I said in Beijing, the new EV era for China has begun. We are proud to lead the way forward by providing high-quality EVs that are stylish, safe, and reliable.
But so far in my new role in China, I have done much more than just speak at motor shows. I’ve spent much more time traveling throughout the country to meet with a number of our partners who are key to our success moving forward in China.
They’re eager, as I am, to build momentum toward the goal of our China midterm plan: TRIPLE One. Part of that momentum is the expansion of all product lines, not only for Nissan and DongFeng but also for Venucia and Infiniti. Our goal is to sell 2.6 million vehicles across all four DFL brands. Our robust product mix already includes the new Nissan Kicks, the Nissan TIIDA, and the frame SUV, the Nissan Terra in China. The Terra features an impressive on- and off-road performance while still offering extreme comfort for passengers. We will meet the critical consumer demand in that segment just as we are doing on the EV front with the new SYLPHY Zero Emission and the new Nissan LEAF.
Earlier this month we also announced plans to manufacture batteries for the SYLPHY Zero Emission locally in China. Partnerships are vital in all of our markets. I see many future possibilities of joining with both established firms as well as newcomers to achieve our midterm goals.
Among all our partners, our dealer network is a major focus in China. I have already had the chance to send a lot of time speaking with our dealers in China. They have been very clear in expressing to me their desire to grow throughout the Nissan and Venucia networks. This is absolutely critical since growing the dealer network in China to achieve 8 percent of the market share is an important part of Nissan M.O.V.E. to 2022.
Nissan M.O.V.E. to 2022 is our global six-year plan to achieve sustainable growth and lead the technology and business evolution of the automotive industry. Growing our dealer network in China is also very important to achieving the goals of TRIPLE ONE, which is an ambitious plan to become the most sustainable brand in the market and the number one company for intelligent mobility technologies in China. Both in China and globally, we see tremendous growth opportunities in the areas of autonomous drive, electrification, and connectivity.
I spent much of my time at Nissan North America focused on dealer relations and aim to bring some of my learnings to this rapidly maturing market. For example, dealers in China are capitalizing on their finance and service departments as tremendous profit centers. This is similar to their counterparts in the U.S. and in other regions. I look forward to helping dealers in China uncover new ways to maximize these opportunities.
I want to thank all of our dealers for their time and feedback, along with everyone who has helped me transition into this new role. It has been a truly inspiring experience.
Most especially, I want to extend a special thank you to every single Nissan, Dongfeng, Venucia and INFINITI customer who has put their trust in us with such a significant purchase. Being the top Japanese brand in China is an honor that we don’t take for granted. Our goal is to exceed our customers’ expectations well into the future.
I could not be more excited about the road ahead in China.
March 10 – When a natural disaster occurs, one of the first things you’ll miss having is electricity. Nissan’s electric vehicles are more than cars. They have the ability to supply power at times of emergencies when it is needed most.
LEAF to Home system
While the world is faces challenges such as natural disasters and climate change, Nissan EV’s can play a key role in responding to crises, like the major earthquake and tsunami that Northern Japan experienced six years ago.
Nissan e-NV200
The LEAF and e-NV200, not only can it be a from of transportation taking people in and out of disaster areas but it can also become a power source. Re-establishing electricity and access to much needed daily necessities like food, hot water and connectivity.
Nissan is committed to being part of the solution with its 100% electric LEAF and e-NV200, focusing on the Nissan Intelligent Mobility vision.
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Jan. 6 – Advances in artificial intelligence are making vehicles smarter, more responsive, and better at making decisions in a variety of driving environments. But we are still not at a point where autonomous vehicles can know exactly how to handle unpredictable situations. This is one of the roadblocks to realizing a fully autonomous future for driving. The solution is Nissan’s Seamless Autonomous Mobility system or SAM.
During CES, Nissan conducted a live demonstration of the system in operation using a link-up to our Silicon Valley Research center. The demonstration of the drive showed just how SAM will work in reality.
Maarten Sierhius, Director of Nissan Research Center
SAM will ensure a seamless mobility system in which millions of autonomous cars can operate safely and smoothly. SAM can help cars to navigate unforeseen situations that occur on city streets, such as accidents, road construction, or other obstacles.
Here’s how it works: imagine an autonomous vehicle is moving through city streets and comes across an accident, with police using hand signals to direct traffic, perhaps across double yellow lines and against traffic lights. The vehicle cannot and should not, reliably judge what to do by itself.
Vehicle sensors (LIDAR, cameras, radars) can tell the car where obstacles are, the traffic light state, and even recognize some hand gestures, but human judgment is required to understand what other drivers and pedestrians are doing and decide on the appropriate course of action.
A Mobility Manager maps a new path for the AD
With SAM, the autonomous vehicle becomes smart enough to know when it should not attempt to negotiate the problem by itself, as in this instance. Instead, it brings itself to a safe stop and requests help from the command center. The request is routed to the first available mobility manager – a person who uses vehicle images and sensor data (streamed over the wireless network) to assess the situation, decide on the correct action, and create a safe path around the obstruction.
The mobility manager does this by “painting” a virtual lane for the vehicle to drive itself through. When the policemen wave the vehicle past, the manager releases the car to continue on by itself along the designated route. Once clear of the area, the vehicle resumes fully autonomous operations, and the mobility manager is free to assist other vehicles calling for assistance.
As this is all happening, other autonomous vehicles in the area are also communicating with SAM. The system learns and shares the new information created by the Mobility Manager. Once the solution is found, it’s sent to the other vehicles.
As the system learns from experience, and autonomous technology improves, vehicles will require less assistance and each mobility manager will be able to guide a large number of vehicles simultaneously. There are several factors that will determine how many managers are necessary: for example, how busy the zone is, and what service the vehicle is providing, whether it’s for robo-taxis, robo-shuttle, or a robo-delivery vehicle.
Live demonstration from the NASA Ames Research Facility
NASA’s Visual Environment for Remote Virtual Exploration (VERVE) software, used to visualize and supervise interplanetary robots, was the starting point for Nissan’s SAM platform. NASA’s robots use autonomous technology to avoid obstacles and calculate safe driving paths through unpredictable and uncertain environments. Where the environment makes autonomous decision-making difficult, NASA supervisors draw the desired route and send to the robot for execution.
Back on Earth, SAM is not for just Nissan vehicles, but for all vehicles.
For more information, please visit our global newsroom.
December 13 – Yokohama – Nissan Motor recently announced the introduction of Intelligent Vehicle Towing (IVT), a fully automated vehicle towing system, at its Oppama Plant.
Nissan has worked on making the relationship between people, cars and society more exciting under its Intelligent Mobility vision, a framework for how cars will be driven, powered, and integrated into society.
This new project, which utilizes mapping and communication technologies to link an intelligent and all-electric car to infrastructure, is a step towards the realization of Nissan Intelligent Integration.
The IVT system uses a modified Nissan LEAF to autonomously tow trollies carrying finished vehicles between designated loading and unloading points at the plant.
Unlike conventional automatic guided vehicle systems for transporting parts, which often require the installation of rails or extensive use of magnetic tape, this system does not need any special infrastructure to operate.
The towing car is equipped with an array of cameras and laser scanners that detect lane markings, curbs and potential obstacles or hazards around the vehicle. By cross-referencing this information with map data, the towing car calculates its own location, negotiating the route to its destination unaided.
The towing car travels within the speed limits of the factory, and automatically stops if it detects an obstacle or hazard ahead, before setting off again when it has determined that the road ahead is clear.
The towing route can easily be altered to accommodate changes in production processes or vehicle transport routes. All driverless towing cars are connected to a central traffic control system, which can monitor the location, driving speed, remaining battery and operational status of each vehicle.
When two driverless towing cars meet at an intersection, the control system’s algorithm determines which car should be given right-of-way, and in case of emergency, the system can stop the vehicles remotely.
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Yokohama – Oct. 25 – For the third consecutive year, the CDP has included Nissan in a select list of companies receiving top-tier “A-List” ranking in its annual Climate Change Report. Nissan finished ahead of thousands of other international businesses in the CDP’s assessment.
Established in 2000, CDP (formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project) is an influential U.K.-based NPO representing 822 institutional investors, which annually rates corporations for their management of climate change based on a combination of survey data and publicly available information.
Nissan was selected for A-List ranking for transparency in disclosing environmental information and for a plan to reduce well-to-wheel CO2 emissions from new vehicles by 90 percent by the year 2050 from levels in the year 2000.
Nissan was also recognized for pioneering the world’s top-selling zero-emission vehicle, enabling Nissan LEAF owners to power their homes from their vehicles during peak power usage times, and for partnering with companies and local governments to grow vehicle charging infrastructure.
“At Nissan, we take sustainability very seriously through the vehicles that we produce but also through reducing our carbon footprint throughout our entire business operation. I want to express Nissan’s gratitude to the CDP for recognizing our efforts by including us in their prestigious report for the third consecutive year, said Hitoshi Kawaguchi, Nissan Senior Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer.
Click here to view the embedded video.
“As a large global company based in Japan, we recognize that our work in this area can have a great impact, so we are committed to leading by example to reduce CO2 emissions even further in the years ahead.”
Click here to view the embedded video.
Nissan announced in June that it had shrank its CO2 emissions by 22.4% over the past decade.
These efforts to reduce Nissan’s corporate carbon footprint have been spearheaded by the recently established Nissan Energy Saving Collaboration (NESCO), which measures energy loss at the company’s plants worldwide.
These activities are part of the company’s third generation environmental action plan, the Nissan Green Program 2016.
The full CDP report can be found at www.cdp.net.
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Oct. 14, 2016 – Japan – Nissan today announced it will make its debut at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES®) 2017 held in Las Vegas. Nissan chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn will deliver a keynote on January 5, 2017 at Westgate Theater.
Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn
During his keynote, Ghosn will provide insights on how Nissan Intelligent Mobility is enabling Nissan to realize its vision of the future. He will also announce several technology advancements and partnerships that will benefit consumers today.
“I’m pleased that Nissan will be taking the CES stage at this moment of significant change and opportunity for the automotive sector,” said Ghosn.
“Nissan has a history of developing breakthrough technologies that have transformed how cars are powered, driven, and integrated with wider society. We look forward to presenting our vision for how the technologies of today are the building blocks for a future with zero emission vehicles and zero fatalities on the road.”
Carlos Ghosn’s Q&A on autonomous driving and technology advancement in the automotive industry is available here.
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Tokyo – Sept. 20 – Nissan held an official opening ceremony for Nissan Crossing on Tuesday, its new brand experience space in the prestigious Ginza district, shortly before the venue opens its doors to the public on Saturday.
The event was attended by representatives of the Japanese government, ambassadors, leading figures in politics and business, members of the design community, and representatives of Ginza’s planning council.
Nissan Crossing occupies the site of the former Nissan Gallery, a popular local landmark that served as a point of contact between Nissan and the general public from 1963 to 2014.
The new venue will offer visitors from around the world a chance to learn about Intelligent Mobility, Nissan’s vision for the future of the relationship between cars and people.
Speaking the event, Nissan President and CEO Carlos Ghosn said: “This new gallery is designed to express Nissan’s brand values of innovation and excitement in a space twice as large as the original.”
“The gallery provides an enhanced customer experience, equipped with state-of-the-art technologies and world-leading features,” he said.
“We believe Nissan Crossing will again become an important landmark in Ginza…and an epicenter for broadcasting the Nissan brand to the world.”
For more on the original Nissan showroom in Ginza, please click this link.
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Rio de Janeiro – Aug. 4 – Nissan has moved the radical BladeGlider Concept from fantasy to reality, taking the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show star to fully-functional advanced prototype.
Nissan’s vision was for an agile, efficient EV providing new dimensions of driving fun and excitement, thanks to the near-silent performance of its electric powertrain and aerodynamic shape.
After two years of work on design, engineering and development, Nissan BladeGlider reflects the potential of advanced EV performance, epitomizing Intelligent Mobility, a philosophy to make its cars more exciting by redefining how they are driven, powered and integrated into society.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Power is 100-percent electric, with exceptional powertrain performance delivered by technical partner for the BladeGlider project, UK-based Williams Advanced Engineering.
Maximum speed of the demonstration models is in excess of 190km/h*, with 0-100km/h taking less than 5 seconds. The rear wheels’ drive is provided by two 130kW electric motors – one for each wheel. Power is supplied by a high performance five module lithium-ion 220kW battery. Bespoke cooling systems have been developed for both the battery and the motors.
“These prototypes epitomize Nissan’s drive to expand its Intelligent Mobility philosophy, where driving pleasure combines with environmental responsibility,” said Carlos Ghosn, Nissan’s President and Chief Executive Officer.
“Nissan believes that enthusiasts should look forward to a zero emission future and BladeGlider is a perfect demonstration of that. It’s the electric vehicle for car-lovers.”
The model features an advanced chassis configuration with a narrow front track and wider rear track for optimum aerodynamic efficiency and handling stability, while high-waisted, rear-hinged dihedral doors provide a dramatic entry and exit to the cabin.
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