TOKYO MOTOR SHOW: No news on Nissan small cars for Oz
News of Nissan’s re-entry into the small car market Down Under will have to wait…but EVs could lead the way…Nissan’s re-entry into the Australian small car market won’t be announced at the Tokyo motor show this week.
In fact, details of the plan for the brand to re-introduce models into the mainstream light and small car segments Down Under may have to wait until well into 2018.
The decision to drop Micra and Pulsar from the company’s local line-up was made under previous boss, Richard Emery. The only current passenger car offerings from Nissan in Australia are sports cars – the GT-R and 370Z Nismo.
Sales for the mainstream Nissan car models effectively collapsed before Pulsar was re-introduced in 2012. Sales for both it and the Micra did not improve despite aggressive pricing as local consumer expectations and the outdated Nissan offerings were misaligned. The cars were axed in 2016.
Now, the company is looking at options to re-engage light and small car buyers with a mix of conventionally engined, hybrid and EV models.
In September, global Renault Nissan Alliance boss Carlos Ghosn said the group would debut 12 new electric models and up to 40 vehicles with autonomous functionality before 2020. It’s understood some of Nissan’s contingent of the 12 new models will be key to the brand’s renaissance Down Under.
Officially, company spokespeople are tight-lipped but discussions are underway for Nissan to launch a mix of EV and combustion engine small car models into Australia by 2020. The rollout of the new vehicles are undoubtedly high on the ‘to do’ list of incoming new Nissan Australia boss, Stephen Lester.
Nissan’s new LEAF hatch is expected to arrive Down Under late in 2018. The company’s existing Note hatch straddles the light and small car segment and will be offered in both conventional and e-Power (EV) versions, however, that is not confirmed for Australia.
At Tokyo Motor Show today, the company’s stand was dominated by EVs.
The timeline is not clear on the announcement of Nissan’s local plans, however, the company will host a conference on EVs and future trends in Singapore in February 2018.
With the growing focus on the group’s Nissan Intelligent Mobility mantra and Lester well established in his role at Nissan Australia, that could be perfect timing for the roll out of Nissan’s passenger car plan.
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