Nissan announced a new business plan for China on Tuesday aiming to raise annual sales 70 percent to more than 2.3 million vehicles by 2015, up from 1.3 million units last year.
Nissan, in a joint venture with China’s Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd., will invest 50 billion yuan ($8 billion) to introduce 30 models, including an all-new electric car, and add 1,000 dealerships to gain market share as economic growth boosts demand in Chinese market.
The electric car will share many components from Nissan LEAF, but will be an entirely new “Chinese” vehicle selling under the new low-priced Venucia brand that Japanese automaker is creating for the world’s largest auto market.
China, the world’s largest auto market, is central to Power 88 Nissan’s plan to raise global market share and profit margins to 8 percent by fiscal 2016.
“We see a clear need for cars that are affordable, practical, spacious and zero emission. Nissan is clearly the global leader in zero emission mobility, now with more than 10,100 electric Nissan LEAF vehicles already sold worldwide. We can introduce the technology, we can introduce the zero-emission cars, and we can introduce them in the best way possible to make them competitive,” Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn said.
