In the process of facing increasingly severe market challenges, Nissan issued a four-year new strategic plan-“The Arc Nissan Arc Plan”: tailored China strategy according to the needs of Chinese consumers.
That is to do product definition and technology research and development in China, and rebuild the whole supply chain in China.
Nissan made it clear that it aims to sell 1 million electric vehicles worldwide by March 2027.
Among them, the sales target for the Chinese market is 200000 vehicles, the US market is 330000 vehicles, and the Japanese market is 90, 000 vehicles.
To achieve this goal, Nissan will launch 30 new models over the next three years, including 16 electric vehicles and 14 diesel locomotives.
At the same time, 15 of them are from the Nissan brand, 10 are from the alliance, and 5 have just been released at the Beijing auto show.
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, these five cars are new energy concept cars based on China’s local market, covering pure electric models and plug-in hybrid models.
These cars will be on the market one after another in the next three years, and the pure electric car Epoch will become the first model to be put on the market in China, and it is planned to achieve mass production within a year.
Moreover, Nissan plans to achieve a 73% rejuvenation of its product matrix in the Chinese market over the next two years.
On how to achieve the above goals, in an interview with the media at the Beijing Auto Show on April 25, President and CEO of Nissan said, “‘in China, for China’is our strategy.
” that is to provide services to meet the needs of Chinese consumers and enhance competitiveness in China.
” 
,” said Yamazaki Chuang Ping, chairman of Nissan’s China Management Committee, “We will build an edge in the areas of ‘Chinese standards, Chinese speed, Chinese cost’ and bring excellent local advantages to local users, through these measures will help us remain competitive in fierce price competition.
” Changshi Matsuyama, vice president of China Strategy and Special Task of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., and general manager of Nissan China Investment Co., Ltd., said, “Nissan’s partnership is not limited to the electric drive of vehicles, but also includes intelligence.
Nissan needs to work with Chinese partners to build intelligent advantages, and leading artificial intelligence AI technology is deeply integrated into Nissan’s products and services, which is our strategy.
” Eisino, senior vice president and chief planning officer of Nissan Motor, said, “use our engineers and teams in China to learn and develop, and use their technology and skills to achieve our goals in China.
” this is our move to change the mode of operation now.
” The following is the Q & A record of the media interview (abridged).
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, Media: Nissan’s electric drive products in the Chinese market are relatively slow, how to solve this problem? Mr.
Uchida: new energy vehicles in China are developing very rapidly and we are adopting a new strategy in China.
Based on our long-term cooperation with Dongfeng, we have established the Dongfeng Nissan Technology Center, which has sufficient capacity not only to assist the research and development of fuel models, but also to research plug-in hybrid and pure electric vehicles.
For the Chinese market, we should also give priority to speed and customized design for the Chinese market.
Therefore, our strategy is clearer and adhere to “in China, for China”.
The five new energy concept models we show today is one of the practices of this strategy.
In the next three years, you will see our series of models, the first one will be launched within a year, of course, we need to make sure that these models are noticed and accepted by Chinese consumers.
Therefore, there are many intelligent features, not only from Nissan’s global advantages, but also from local strengths.
We signed a memorandum of understanding with one of the leading AI companies in China (Baidu) to better integrate these technologies into Nissan products through further cooperation, thus bringing exciting intelligent systems and services based on AI artificial intelligence to Chinese users.
So our strategy is to ensure that Nissan’s advantages are maintained and the extent of change, which we have established since last July, which will ensure that we will deliver smarter and affordable new energy products to users at a faster rate.
Media: many brands in China are fighting a price war, and the cost control requirements are very strict.
What kind of industrial strategy will Nissan adopt to deal with the cost control and competition of Chinese cars? Mr.
Uchida: it is true that there has been fierce price competition since last year and it is likely to continue this year.
We need to continue to bring value to our customers, so we need to provide Nissan standards at all customer contacts.
But at the same time, we need to be competitive, so we need to adopt a deeper localization strategy, which is why all our models and parts are made locally in China to help us better meet the competition.
We can see that at the Beijing Auto Show, the prices of some large models are very attractive.
This is also the direction of our follow-up efforts, so that we can grow in the market.
Yamazaki Zhuhei: the price competition in the Chinese market is indeed very fierce and we also need to join in this competition.
That’s why the four new energy concept cars we show you today are all developed based on local speed and local costs.
This is our idea, and it is also the new strategy-“start DNA+” released on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd. in November last year.
We will build an advantage in the field of “Chinese standards, Chinese speed, Chinese cost” to bring excellent local advantages to local users, through these measures will help us to maintain competitiveness in the fierce price competition.
Media: what aspects of the Chinese market do Nissan executives want to see during their visit to China? Mr.
Uchida: the team that came to China this time included almost all the members of the Executive Committee.
Why are all senior executives here? the reason is that we want to feel and get in touch with the speed of China.
We have seen a lot of models this time, and now China is developing very fast.
Therefore, we hope that the team can understand what is happening in China, look at these cars, formulate strategies, how we can be stronger in the Chinese market, and how to make models meet the needs of consumers in a more timely manner.
If you can’t meet these two goals, I think it will be very difficult to maintain the pace in China, which is very valuable information.
Media: the intelligence and electrification of Chinese cars are developing rapidly, and local brands are also growing rapidly.
at the same time, the behavior and consumption habits of Chinese consumers are also developing rapidly.
Health changes, how can Nissan better meet the needs of Chinese consumers? Mr.
Uchida: if you look at today’s cars, maybe it’s not just China.
Customer demand has changed dramatically.
Users want to be able to connect with vehicles and make cars a part of their lives, and this trend is developing very fast.
Nissan has been in this industry for 90 years, and the very important idea for us is to understand the needs of our customers and to be able to provide vehicles that meet them.
Eiseno: Chinese consumers are very distinctive.
As we said before, the Chinese market is changing very fast.
There may not be many smart cars with self-driving capabilities three years ago, but earth-shaking changes have taken place now.
This has changed, such as the development and design of the product cockpit, because today’s customers are not only satisfied with driving, but also have other multi-faceted needs.
Now, we are working hard to learn and master more information, what kind of technology can help users integrate vehicles into their personal lives? How to achieve a seamless link between mobile device data and vehicles? Therefore, we are exploring and developing in many aspects.
These technologies will be integrated into vehicles developed for the Chinese market.
Many colleagues have also mentioned that using our engineers and teams in China to learn and develop and use their technology and skills to achieve our goals in China is a move to change our business model.
In addition to five new energy concept cars, in the Chinese market, the Nissan brand will renovate 73% of its product lineup in the next two years.
We need to make a quick decision on how to ensure that we provide services that meet the needs of Chinese consumers, otherwise we will not be able to keep up with the pace of change.
What we need to do is to continue to convey the value of Nissan to users.
Media: I just talked about cooperation with leading companies in the field of AI.
Excuse me, why do you cooperate with Chinese high-tech enterprises? Could you introduce the background of the cooperation again? In addition, does Nissan’s plan to export new energy vehicles in 2025 mean to export more electric cars with Chinese high-tech companies? Uchida: “in China, for China” is our strategy, which is the reason why we signed the MOU with the leading companies in the AI field.
That is, to provide services to meet the needs of Chinese consumers and enhance competitiveness in China.
Looking forward to the future, we have also discussed the export.
Starting from 2025, the goal of the first phase is to export 1 million units from China to the rest of the world.
We are also considering other actions, such as further exploring technologies that can help us deliver Nissan’s value to the world at local speeds.
At present, we are focused on providing to Chinese users, which is one of our main purposes of signing MOU.
Masashi Matsuyama: Nissan’s partnership is not limited to the electric drive of vehicles, but also to intelligence.
Nissan needs to work with Chinese partners to build intelligent advantages, and the leading artificial intelligence AI technology is deeply integrated into Nissan’s products and services, which is our strategy.
At the same time, it is also one of the reasons for our cooperation with China’s leading AI company.
Media: first question, how did Nissan disassemble its sales target of 1 million vehicles, what is the ratio of new energy vehicles to traditional fuel models, and what is the target for this year? The second question is about the export business, setting a target of 100000 vehicles, which is a more important change for Nissan.
So, what is the background and reason for setting the global export target from China, and which countries are the export business mainly targeted to? how are the export models planned, new energy vehicles or traditional fuel models? On the third question, a German company said that it would take about three years to complete the production of refrigerators, but BYD in China produced a car in about a year and a half from project establishment to completion.
Does Nissan feel the same speed difference? Can Nissan make up for this gap quickly to meet its sales target of 1 million vehicles and its export target of 100000 vehicles? First of all, the sales target of 1 million of the global market is the goal announced by us in the The Arc Nissan Arc Plan.
In the “The Arc Nissan Arc Plan”, the target sales increment areas are also divided, including the US market sales target 330pc00000, the European market sales target 3000000000, the Chinese sales target 200000, and the 90000 increment target in Japan.
To achieve this goal, we will launch 30 new models in the next three years, including 15 Nissan brands, 10 from the alliance, and another 5 mentioned at the launch of the Beijing auto show For the ratio of fuel models to new energy models in 2026, this is not considered from a single country’s point of view, depending on the market demand in different regions, we hope to have an appropriate combination of models to provide to consumers in different regions and different needs.
At present, electric cars, electric-driven models and fuel models are all planned.
The second question is about Nissan’s export target of 100000 vehicles.
We need to consider the differences in the development of electric drive in different markets.
There are different products in the United States, Europe, China and Japan, and such a combination strategy is needed to make the future development more solid.
100000 vehicles refers to our target, and local production capacity and other capabilities need to be taken into account.
For example, we have a strong capacity base in China, and exports can better spread fixed costs equally, which is also a practical issue that we consider.
The last question is about the time period from product development to delivery.
In China, it’s all about speed.
But there are different situations in different countries, the one-and-a-half-year development cycle is still very challenging, but we can achieve a 24-month development cycle, and we have to do it.
Therefore, we have decided to give full play to our advantages in developing products in China, and our joint venture company is ready and confident.
Media: China’s local market, the product cycle is very short, in such a price competition situation, the local mainframe factory will push a lot of models into the market, do you think it has reached a critical point for model renewal? As for the price competition in China that you see, car companies are also exporting more and more overseas.
Do you think this will boost China’s exports to the outside world, including to Europe? Is it a healthy competition or a threat for Nissan? , Makoto UchidaLet me answer your second question first.
Last year (2023) China exported 4.
7 million vehicles, 25 per cent of which were electric vehicles.
China’s exports are already very strong and there is still a lot of potential.
Judging from the current auto industry as a whole, it is difficult to predict what the competition will be like in the next four months, six months or even a year.
The world is changing rapidly, and more competitors continue to join.
How can we maintain this pace and carry out independent transformation to better cope with market changes, which is why we have such a strategy in China.
And we must be prepared to do a good job in different countries and regions.
In the process of enterprise transformation, how to maintain the pace of the enterprise and product lineup is very important.
The problem of shortening the product life cycle in China usually takes 5-6 years, but it is much shorter in China.
With these new cars unveiled at the Beijing Auto Show, I have felt that China’s auto market is developing so rapidly that it is very challenging for us to catch up with China.
Eiseno: with regard to the product cycle, I’m not sure if it has reached a tipping point.
I think it’s more diversified.
Achieving a short product cycle requires not only faster and more use of local teams, but also a more appropriate sequence of choices.
Therefore, we need to know the trend of each market, which regions or products can slow down, and which we need to strengthen.
In fact, in order to maintain the competitiveness of mainframe factories and car companies, we need to pay close attention to the focus and demand trends of consumers, and how to combine local resources and expertise with global advantages.
Media: at present, China’s auto market is in a period of change, especially the development of electrification and intelligence.
What measures will Nissan take to ensure its competitiveness in China? Uchida: how to ensure the rapid pace of development, how to provide the configuration and services that users need, how to ensure that users’ lives are more enjoyable, and how to enrich the lives of Chinese users.
So, we need to work deeply with our partners, and we are moving very quickly to ensure that these features are configured in our products.
For example, how to ensure that Xuan Yi and Teana, which are familiar to users, can meet their needs by configuring the necessary functions, which Nissan must do.
From a competitive point of view Nissan has been working with its partner Dongfeng Motor for 20 years and many consumers like Nissan.
We need to continue to launch new products suitable for users, so that we can achieve and maintain rapid iteration and delivery, maintain influence in the Chinese market, and enrich the needs of Chinese users.
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