Carlos Ghosn, Nissan Motor CEO, sees the overwhelming orders of Tesla’s Model 3 as a good thing – in fact he welcomes it, Automotive News reports. The reason behind this, was that Ghosn views the response as some “good competition” at long last.
“The fact that so many people are willing to pay a downpayment to get this car which becomes available at the end of 2017 is a good sign,” he said, adding “finally, good competition for EVs is picking up.” On a market-perspective, the CEO believes that it would stimulate demand for electric vehicles (EV).
He also noted that such new offerings from Tesla will lead to better customer appreciation of EVs and at the same time, it will also motivate Nissan to produce better vehicles. “We welcome competition because it can expand the market. It’s going to stimulate demand,” Ghosn reiterated.
Under the Renault-Nissan Alliance, a total of 302,000 electric vehicles have been sold globally, as of 2015. The number includes 211,000 units of the Nissan Leaf (since its launch in 2010), making the Japanese brand the EV leader.
Tesla on the other hand, has stated that 325,000 orders have been taken for the Model 3. The figure is now triple the cumulative sales of the Tesla Model S and Model X, from 2012 to 2015.
GALLERY: 2016 Nissan Leaf 30 kWh
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i only trust nissan EV.
Nissan responded like a proper game player. They will look into why Tesla is able to capture the hearts of 325k owner wannabe while Nissan’s readily available Leaf is frown upon by some. This promotes healthy competition. Turning a not so good news into words of encouragement “finally, good competition for EVs is picking up.”
Some may think the Leaf is beautiful like a flower, at least the designers and the ones who approved it did think so.
The Leaf is as beautiful as….. a leaf.
Looks like a Todd
Well, Tesla is more innovative now than most car companies. They spent a lot in trying out new technologies. And they are actually one of the first to create smarter and connected mass produced cars. After Tesla’s Model S, look at how all car companies start to incorporate the IOT to their design. Daimler and BMW are now hiring more and more engineers in smart cars related field. Tesla has changed our idea on how cars should be designed. Other companies have to follow suit.
Plus, most of those early buyers of the Model 3 reserved the car because they want to support Musk and his vision. He has created a strong fan base around Tesla. Just like what Steve Jobs did with Apple.
This is one area where Leaf failed miserably.
The more beautiful Leaf is coming, be patient.
The Leaf has come a long way now….time for Nissan to respond in kind by launching the next gen Leaf
proton should hire ghosn
Yeah. He was at Renault when they entered the alliance as major partner. Now Renault is the junior partner. Way to go Ghosn. Might as well jump ship to lead Nissan instead.
He still is the CEO of Groupe Renault. Groupe Renault owns Nissan and he is the head of the group. So why would he jump ship? And how come Renault is the junior partner now? From what basis are you deriving your conclusion? Renault is doing well here in Europe. Renault’s ZOE is the most sold EV in Europe in 2015, and still is today. They are active in motorsports events like F1, Le Mans 24 Heures and the Formula-E. Plus, some of Nissan’s developments are actually carried out by Renault.
FYI. Currently, Nissan value is more than Renault. They have been consistently bringing in more profits to the alliance and buying back their shares until almost reach 50% alredi. Nissan is syukur to Ghosn for this, but Renault brand is now sinking. So he better jump ship to the winning side before Nissan force a divorce.
I frankly think that is rather unlikely. At least not in the near future. It would be too complicated for both. Because both share a lot of common developments and platform together.
Desirable and elegan design. orang beli la.. if tesla designed it or any of their models in the footstep of nissan leaf.. haram depa nak beli.
Thank God Carlos Ghosn is not some morons who despise any kind of competition, or else he would be pulling all the Nissan and Renault cars to go to the street and protest already. This is the right attitude, instead of keep blaming and even threatening competition for showing up.
Nissan Leaf is one car that leave a lasting impression on my mind. Sat in a unit last year in PJ showroom. A zippy car great for moving around in the city. Only thing is the charging time and capacity. Looking forward to the facelift version.
To take things positively, his comment should be seen as encouragement for all EV (or any other green, alternative energy vehicles) producers to step up their production and increase share in the market.
What a joke. Nissan/Renault has yet to produce a car with a range greater than 150km. Carlos should take a humble pill.