Strategic Shift to Align with European Decarbonization Regulations
Focus on Synergy with Renault
Japanese automaker Nissan Motor has announced that it will switch all vehicles sold in Europe to electric vehicles (EVs) by 2030. This is interpreted as a strategy to actively target the European market, where decarbonization regulations have become stricter, and to further increase market dominance. As the global EV market gradually expands, centered on the US and Europe, competition among major companies in each country is expected to intensify.
On the 26th, NHK reported that Makoto Uchida, Nissan's CEO, announced this new management policy the day before at the Nissan Design Center in London. Accordingly, all new Nissan models in Europe will be released exclusively as EV models in the future. In his announcement, Uchida emphasized, "EVs powered by renewable energy are a key to achieving carbon neutrality."
Until now, Nissan had announced plans to raise the sales ratio of electrified vehicles in Europe to 98% by 2026, with 78% of those being EVs. The strategy to produce 78% as EVs has now shifted to 'EV 100%.'
This appears to be a response to changes in the European market. The European Union (EU) plans to ban the sale of engine-equipped vehicles, except for some models, by 2035. Nissan's strategy is to switch all models to EVs by 2030 to respond early to this regulation.
In fact, Nissan is actively targeting the European market. According to Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei), one-third of the more than one million EVs Nissan has sold worldwide are in the European market. Nissan already produces the EV series 'Leaf' and others at its Sunderland plant in northern England, and in 2021 announced plans to invest 1 billion pounds to build a battery factory and more.
The possibility of cooperation with Renault is also a good opportunity to target the European market. In July, Nissan signed a contract to review its capital relationship with France's Renault and agreed to jointly invest in Renault's planned new EV company, Ampere. It is expected that Nissan will aggressively move to secure a leading position in the European market by joining forces with Renault.
Meanwhile, other Japanese automakers that joined the EV transition late are also accelerating their responses. Toyota plans to increase the EV sales ratio in Western Europe to 50% by 2030, and Honda intends to switch new cars sold in Europe and other regions to EVs or fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) by 2040.
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