Nissan debuts Leaf amid Ghosn drama
Pushing scandal aside, Nissan Motor yesterday launched the new all-electric Leaf at Thailand International Motor Expo 2018 and held fast to its commitment that the EV will debut in all seven expected markets by year-end.
On Tuesday, Mitsubishi executive vicepresident Mitsuhiko Yamashita told reporters at an R&D centre in Okazaki that Mitsubishi’s alliance with Nissan and Renault could survive the management turmoil that saw Carlos Ghosn dismissed as chairman of the alliance over financial misconduct allegations.
There were earlier reports that Nissan might delay the launch of the new longrange Leaf in Asia-Pacific, but Yutaka Sanada, Nissan’s regional senior vicepresident, affirmed the launch in Bangkok.
“There is no impact for [the launch in] South Korea,” he told the Bangkok Post. “Everything is under process within the internal investigation.”
The Leaf has already launched in 49 countries and is expected to reach 51.
“I am sure we can do more,” Mr Sanada said. “In Asia and Oceania, we are planning to launch in seven markets, including Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong, and these markets we will launch in parallel on top of Thailand.”
Other markets include Australia, New Zealand and South Korea.
“Our price (1.99 million baht) has been shown after today, and it means that the next step is delivering the car by the end of the fiscal year in March,” Mr Sanada said.
He said he expects a warm reception for the Leaf in Southeast Asia, where internal studies show that one-third of customers in the region are willing to switch to electric.
There remain concerns about climate conditions, charging stations and traffic in Thailand, but Nissan insists that the timing is right to deliver the electric car to Thai customers.
“We have confidence that we can remove these concerns of customers, and we have confidence in the regional collaboration with the local entities and our strategic alignment with national authorities,” Mr Sanada said.
By Nissan’s count, there are about 300 charging points in Thailand at the moment. The company expects the number to rise to 500 in the coming years as public and private investment emerges.
“The number of changing stations is limited, but naturally it will expand step-bystep due to the expansion of electric vehicle users, and I have confidence that step by step we will expand,” Mr Sanada said.
He also revealed that the company will launched a new drive system called e-POWER for customers in Southeast Asia after the technology was well-received in Japan.
The e-POWER system adds a small gasoline engine to charge the high-output battery when necessary, eliminating the need for an external charger while offering the same high output.
As for the prospect of having an EV manufacturing facility in Asean, Mr Sanada said Thailand is still on the radar but Nissan is “still studying all options”.
“Eventually, if demand for electric vehicles expands, naturally we should consider making them locally,” he said. “In this scenario, Nissan has a significant manufacturing footprint in Thailand, as we have two assembly plants here, and we will naturally study about EV here but we are still studying.”