The Nissan Motors Co., Ltd. announced its plans to launch its first clean diesel engine in the United States to be introduced in the Maxima sedan in 2010. The sedan will be powered by an all-new Alliance engine which was co-developed with Renault - the automaker's affiliate. The diesel engine will be engineered to comply with the clear stringent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Tier II Bin five emissions requirements.
The automaker plans to sell its first clean-diesel cars in the US in three years to meet the demand for more environmentally friendly vehicles, Carlos Ghosn said last Wednesday. Further details about the car will be announced by the Japanese automaker soon.
Ghosn, the president and CEO of Nissan as well as French carmaker Renault, said that Nissan is also racing to expand its diesel lineup in Europe and China. Ghosn said Nissan's Maxima nameplate would be its first car to be fueled by a clean diesel engine in the United States and that Nissan intends to supply it to car dealers by the year 2010.
"It's a kind of bet you are making that fuel standards will tighten and fuel costs will climb," Ghosn said in explaining the company's bid to bolster its green credentials in the US. He said that the engine's technology will be jointly developed by Nissan and Renault, which each own stakes in one another, and that the clean diesel engines will initially be built in Europe.
However, if sales take off, Ghosn added that the engine building could be moved to the United States. He declined to give price specifications of the upcoming diesel Maxima. The seasoned executive, credited with turning around Nissan in recent years, said it is clear that "consumers want environmentally-friendly cars." Ghosn, talking to an audience at the Council on Foreign Relations, said 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 of the potential niche, adding that he would not be surprised to see an Indian or Chinese firm enter the US market with models priced under 10,000 dollars. Ghosn 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 very tricky to pull off. Ghosn said he favors building partnership ventures with foreign carmakers instead, rather than attempting to take them over.
"Nissan is fully engaged in reducing emissions and improving fuel economy and efficiency. Launching a clean diesel engine in the U.S. will offer customers the benefits of fuel economy, CO2 reduction and a satisfying, fun-to-drive performance that is a hallmark of the Nissan brand," Ghosn said. "You can expect to see more diesel engines in our product lineup in Europe, Japan, North America and China by fiscal year 2010."
This initiative is part of the automaker's plan to lessen CO2 emissions as outlined in the Nissan Green Program 2010 - its mid-term environmental strategy. Nissan will also be investing in a variety of technologies including hybrid cars, fuel cell cars, biofuel-based cars, electric vehicles, enhancement in all systems, gasoline engines and clean diesels. The Japanese automaker is committed to bringing the right technology to the right market at the right time with the right value to the purchaser.
