| |
| |
![]() |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
WASHINGTON : Sensing an untapped market, Japanese automaker Nissan is "seriously" mulling the launch of a small car in the United States priced under 10,000 dollars, top executive Carlos Ghosn said Wednesday.
Such a move could trigger a major price war in the world's largest car market, but it would also be a high-stakes gamble due to America's love affair with hulking pickup trucks and sports utility vehicles.
Ghosn, the president and chief executive of Nissan as well as French carmaker Renault, told an audience at the Council on Foreign Relations here that US manufacturers had so far ignored the potential market for cars priced under 10,000 dollars.
"We are looking at it seriously," Ghosn said, adding that he would not be surprised to see an Indian or Chinese firm muscle into the US market pitching cars under 10,000 dollars.
Ghosn spoke after visiting India last month where Renault-Nissan is hunting new markets and amid plans by India's Tata Motors to launch a small car priced at 2,500 dollars.
Nissan employs around 16,000 workers at several US plants and sells a full range of vehicles across America. Renault already sells cars priced under 10,000 dollars in Europe, but has no current presence in the United States.
Big US manufacturers also appear to be sensing a change in the wind.
General Motors, which is struggling to maintain sales domestically in the face of an onslaught from Japanese rivals Toyota and Honda, unveiled the Chevy Spark in India last month priced from around 7,300 dollars.
Most cars and SUVs sold in the United States, however, are priced well above 10,000 dollars.
Ghosn also said that fears about climate change and technological advances were reforming the global car industry, and that Nissan and Renault were driving to build strong partnerships with Indian and Chinese manufacturers.
"Alliances work, but they are very difficult to manage," he cautioned, saying that international auto mergers can be tricky to execute.
Ghosn said he favors building partnership ventures with foreign carmakers, rather than taking them over. He said in January that Renault-Nissan was interested in expanding its US operations by linking up with an American partner.
Nissan's top executive announced meanwhile that the firm plans to sell its first clean diesel cars in the United States in three years to meet accelerating demand for environmentally friendly vehicles.
Ghosn said Nissan's Maxima nameplate would be its first car to be fueled by a clean diesel engine in the United States amid plans to roll out similar models in Japan and China by the same deadline.
Nissan did not release any details on the engine's fuel efficiency potential, but diesel engines generally get markedly more mileage than petrol engines.
Toyota and Honda are also gearing up their green offerings in America, as are US automakers such as Ford which sells the hybrid Escape sport utility vehicle.
"It's a kind of bet you are making that fuel standards will tighten and fuel costs will climb," Ghosn said of the Maxima project.
The seasoned auto chief, credited with turning around Nissan in recent years, said it's clear that "consumers want environmentally friendly cars."
The clean diesel engines will be jointly developed by Nissan and Renault, which each own stakes in one another, and be made in Europe.
Nissan is also investing heavily in fuel cell, hybrid, bio-fuel and electric vehicles.
- AFP /ls
|
