(Editor’s note: This article has been updated as of August 18, 2021)
Not even the current pandemic can stop Nissan Motor Co Ltd from laying the groundwork for the company’s four-year plan to achieve sustainable growth, financial stability, and profitability by the end of the fiscal year 2023. Part of this long-term plan is to take a decisive action involving business transformations aimed to streamline unprofitable operations and surplus facilities, alongside structural reforms.
Further, there will be fixed costs reduction by rationalizing production capacity, global product range, and expenses. And through disciplined management, there will be prioritization and investment in business areas expected to deliver a substantial recovery and sustainable growth. All these plans aim to achieve a 5% operating profit margin and a sustainable global market share of 6% by the end of the fiscal year 2023. That includes proportionate contributions from its 50% equity joint venture in China.
“Our transformation plan aims to ensure steady growth instead of excessive sales expansion. We will now concentrate on our core competencies and enhancing the quality of our business while maintaining financial discipline and focusing on net revenue per unit to achieve profitability. This coincides with the restoration of a culture defined by ‘Nissan-ness’ for a new era,” said Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida.
Since the four-year plan focuses on two strategic areas, one is aimed at global core model segments, including enhanced C and D segment vehicles, electric vehicles (EV), and sports cars. Interestingly, 12 models are lined up for release in the next 18 months.
In the case of EVs and electric-motor-driven cars, including e-Power, to expand the mere presence, Nissan is looking at more than 1 million electrified sales units per year by the end of 2023 (fiscal year). In fact, in Japan alone, two more EVs and four more e-Power vehicles will be launched to increase the electrification ratio to 60% of sales.
“Nissan must deliver value for customers around the world. To do this, we must make breakthroughs in the products, technologies, and markets where we are competitive. This is Nissan’s DNA. In this new era, Nissan remains people-focused, to deliver technologies for all people, and to continue addressing challenges as only Nissan can,” Uchida concluded.
Nissan will go on with the plan in China—the world’s largest auto market—to ensure steady growth, without using incentives to secure volume and market share. Factors being considered are the consumers’ optimistic outlook on growth and prosperity and their willingness to embrace new technologies, including IT and EVs. So, Nissan is expected to benefit from steady growth due to its strengths in advanced technologies.
E-Power technology will be introduced in core products with connectivity as the key. That would translate to a further increase from 75% to 90% by the end of the fiscal year 2023. That’s a whopping 6 million connected vehicles in operation, theoretically. So, aside from customer convenience, it will also develop better products and services by utilizing data obtained from connected cars.
In the United States, it’s mainly real recovery after focusing on sales normalization and start introducing new technologies and products, thereby gradually improving sales performance. In terms of EV initiative, a new all-electric SUV is slated to debut towards 2023.
Europe remains an essential region for Nissan, with a long history and valuable assets. Part of the electrification drive is to add an all-electric SUV to the line-up and expand e-Power offerings.
By the end of the fiscal year 2023, Nissan is all set to introduce more than eight EV models. That would account for 60% percent sales in Japan, 23% in China, and 50% in Europe, totaling an estimated more than 1 million units. Nissan believes that for the next 10 years, the key drivers will be EVs.
In clean technology news and analysis website CleanTechnica.com’s list of the world’s top 20 plug-in EVs for the period January to December 2020, the Nissan Leaf placed 7th overall, with sales of 55,724 units (https://cleantechnica.com/2021/02/04/global-electric-vehicle-top-20-ev-sales-report/).
According to Nissan, its electrification initiatives are not only intended for a better environment but also to offer driving pleasure. It is demonstrated by the new driving experience of e-Power and the newly launched Ariya electric crossover, a car that offers a fantastic driving experience.
New look and feel for driving in the Ariya
When developing the all-new Nissan Ariya electric crossover, its designers and engineers didn’t just consider the ergonomics involved in the dashboard. They were determined to create a new look and feel for controls that drivers generally take for granted. This required a rethink of cabin space, touch and positioning.
The Ariya’s interior was crafted to be an open, spacious cabin offering a sense of calm and serenity. Part of that design is a dashboard free of traditional buttons. The stylish wood-grained trim bisecting the dashboard comes to life upon starting the Ariya, illuminating a set of environmental controls that reside just beneath the dashboard’s surface. Utilizing a new generation of haptic feedback controls, these subtly integrated buttons open a world of possibilities in the relationship between function and design.
In the same way that we interact with a smartphone display to navigate and engage with apps, haptic feedback buttons in the Ariya react to touch, communicating through fingertip vibrations. When adjusting the Ariya’s climate controls and drive modes, drivers will interact with a familiar set of icons. Yet, because the points of interaction are felt and heard, they can remain focused on the road. The design team’s decision to integrate haptic feedback into the Ariya speaks to the vehicle’s underlying design concept of Timeless Japanese Futurism, which takes a distinctive Japanese approach to design, conveying a simple yet powerfully modern impression.
Haptic feedback buttons are grouped into two specific areas in the Ariya—on the main dashboard and on the adjustable center armrest. The goal was to not only integrate the technology into the cabin design as a means of wowing passengers, but also to give the technology a natural and responsive feel for a wide variety of drivers.
Watch a quick description and review of the new Nissan Ariya here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TsjrJ4C_aQ
Source: Nissan Global News, Nissan Philippines