How our innovation is electrifying China

In China, the demand for electrified vehicles is growing exponentially. Emission quotas are being tightened to help New Energy Vehicles (NEVs*) reach 20% of new car sales by 2025. It’s a strong mandate, which will enable NEVs to make up 50% of all new car sales by 2035. While these regulations are undoubtedly accelerating electrification, it is the sophisticated Chinese consumer that is driving the trend. 

China is our biggest market, comprising 35% of our global sales. Being an electric vehicle pioneer, Nissan is aggressively pursuing electrification in China. At 2021’s Shanghai Motor Show, we proudly displayed the proof of our commitment to electrification. Not only did we show the Ariya, our new flagship EV, we also introduced Nissan’s innovative technology — e-POWER — to tech-savvy Chinese customers. Our stand featured 70 years of Nissan’s heritage in electric-powered mobility. 

Electrification is a key part of our transformation plan, Nissan Next, and our global plan to sell more than 1 million electrified vehicles annually by March 2024. There are a multitude of factors behind this transformation, but the most important one is the customer, and what they want from an electric car. We are listening to their needs in order to surpass their expectations. 

As the most technologically sophisticated consumer base in the world, Chinese car buyers are constantly challenging us to offer more cutting-edge innovations. They want to be pioneers, at the forefront of automotive technology.    

Chinese customers are challenging us to offer more innovation 

Ariya, our new premium all-electric SUV, will soon answer these customers’ needs, and we’ll be giving Chinese drivers the choice of ten electrified Nissan models by 2025. We also plan to use more locally-made products and technologies to make electrified vehicles more accessible — and save on carbon emissions generated by transporting parts.

 Alongside pure electric vehicles, Nissan e-POWER is a cornerstone of our strategy — and its technology is a real game-changer. It offers our customers the excitement, quiet drive and smooth acceleration of an electric car, plus the confidence and convenience of an on-board ICE engine, so drivers never need to plug in to an external power source.

 e-POWER also offers our pioneering customers true innovation — unlike a conventional hybrid, the e-POWER’s ICE engine does not drive the wheels at all — it is exclusively devoted to electrical power generation. Excitingly, e-POWER technology will be available in one of our most popular models in China, the best-selling Nissan Sylphy sedan, in the second half of 2021 — and in six models by 2025.

By 2035, New Energy Vehicles will account for 50% of all new car sales in China

The electric car market in China is a crowded one, with a lot of new players. Through the power of Big Data, we’re constantly listening to our customers, which gives us a huge insight into what they want when they’re choosing and buying a car. For instance, some still prefer a physical store, while some like to conduct transactions online. To appeal to both, we’re creating Nissan City Hubs in the larger Chinese cities — an exciting blend of e-commerce and concept store. By demonstrating our strong brand presence and offering a seamless online to offline experience, we’re enabling Chinese customers to choose how they experience Nissan for themselves.

China is inspiring us to redefine the way we design and sell our cars. It’s a growing, innovation-driven market, made all the more exciting by the sheer number of new players in the field. We’ll win by focusing on the customer, because we know that customers drive electrification, not regulations. We’ll continue to redefine the future of mobility for China and the rest of the world by giving customers what they want — innovation that excites.

*NEVs refers to pure battery electric vehicles (BEV), plug-in electric vehicles (PHEV) and fuel cell vehicles (FCEVs).