Nissan Wants to Be Hybrid Player by 2010

If the Detroit auto show reinforced one thing, it’s that hybrids and alternative-fuel vehicles are the new battleground for automakers. Nissan has lagged well behind other full-line car companies in this department, but hopes to turn those prospects around in the next two years.

In Detroit, Nissan’s executive vice president for research and development, Mitsuhiko Yamashita, told the Detroit Free Press that Nissan plans to develop a hybrid that will outperform all similar vehicles currently on the market. Nissan only sells a hybrid version of the Altima, which makes use of Toyota’s hybrid technology, in a few U.S. states. It hopes to develop its own system by 2010, which it hopes will get better fuel economy and acceleration, as well as an extended range that will allow the car to drive farther than any other vehicle on the road without using the gas engine.

Nissan hasn’t indicated which vehicle will get the new hybrid system, only that it will be a rear-wheel-drive vehicle that will use more electric power than current hybrids, like the Toyota Prius — clearly the vehicle Nissan has in its sights with this project.

Interestingly, Yamashita shrugged off Toyota’s and GM’s attempts to move in the direction of plug-in hybrids, which these companies seem to think are the future of more fuel-efficient cars. The Nissan exec cited the high expense of additional battery capacity as his main doubt about the viability of those cars. While his concern may have some validity, it may also be that two years down the road Nissan will simply find itself a step behind yet again.

Nissan Says It’ll Have Own Hybrid in 2010 (Detroit Free Press)

Comments

If they really intended to do so, they should sell the Altima Hybrid everywhere right now, and work on something right away instead of BS-ing. Especially they could see how Honda and Toyota had been doing with those products!

A few years ago Ghosn expressed similar doubts about conventional hybrids...

Hate to say it, but C.G.'s comment a few yrs ago is still correct even to this date. Look, other than Toyota, all hybrid makers are still either haven' make much profit on hybrid sales or very hesitant in building more hybrids. Even Toyota itself is NOT making much profit from hybrid sales due to the high cost of manufacturing and relatively "cheap" selling price. From a business prospective, CG's utterly correct and making the correct decision. R&D IS the MOST EXPENSIVE part of the hybrid tech. From an environment standpt., however, I wish he's never say such things for Nissan... :(

AR - How do you know how much Toyota is making on their hybrids? As far as I know, they do not release profit data by car line. All I remember is that a couple of years ago they announced that the line started to make money. Since then, all they've done was spread the system to more models and doubled Prius output - signifying that they've achieved a decent level of economies of scale and henceforth profitability. To make your claim, provide some data...

As far as Nissan and CG - he is dead wrong and will now, like GM, try to play a game of catch up. At least GM is claiming to be moving beyond the Prius, while Toyota will be much further ahead what with experience and all behind them. 10-15 years of production (the Prius originally came out in 97 in Japan) and research is hard to beat coming from nothing, and then they need to convince customers their system is reliable and durable without having been proven.