Nissan to launch 15 hybrids by 2016

Nissan has thus far concentrated on an all-electric assault with its battery-powered LEAF, but in a marked change of tack the Japanese car-maker now says it will launch 15 hybrid models within four years.

Updating media on its Nissan Green Program 2016 plan in Yokohama last week, the company estimated its has increased the average fuel economy of its new vehicles in major markets by 19 per cent since 2005, and said its carbon emissions from vehicle production are now among the best in the auto industry.

However, while Nissan says it will meet its CO2 emissions reduction targets in terms of CO2 from vehicle use, it said it is still striving to reduce CO2 from its manufacturing, logistics, management and sales operations.

Nissan said that, longer-term, it aims to begin reducing its total corporate CO2 emissions in the 2020s, despite expectations of a dramatic increase in global vehicle sales by then.

“Also in the plan is a commitment to zero-emission leadership, minimising the use of scarce natural resources and industry-leading fuel efficiency,” stressed Nissan, which provided no further details on the 15 new hybrids and an unspecified number of new EVs it promised by 2016.

The push towards hybrid vehicles is believed to be partly due to luke-warm sales of the LEAF, and also in response to the growing market share Toyota, Honda and other manufacturers have been garnering with their hybrid models.

Nissan had earlier ambitiously forecast that all-electric vehicles would account for 10 per cent of worldwide vehicle sales by 2020, but that estimate now seems highly premature and the price premium commanded by EVs including the LEAF is clearly proving a handicap.

The day before its parent company’s announcement in Japan, Nissan Australia cut the LEAF’s driveaway pricing by more than $8000 to $46,990 and added a number of attractive finance offers for the world’s first mass-market all-electric vehicle.

Just 71 Australian homes have been found so far this year for the LEAF, which went on sale here last December and in the US two years ago.

Still, Nissan has begun manufacturing EV batteries at North America’s largest automotive lithium-ion battery plant in Tennessee, USA, and it plans to build the LEAF there from next year.

Clearly, however, Nissan’s rapid hybrid model expansion is an admission it can no longer ignore the growing niche Toyota is carving with its rapidly expanding Prius line-up, while Honda, Kia, Ford and others are also getting in on the hybrid act.

Nissan has in the past offered a hybrid version of the previous-generation Altima in the US, but that was a mix-and-match effort that used a powertrain sourced from Toyota. It was said to be less frugal and refined than its competitors and, as a result, met with limited sales success.

However, it seems assured Nissan will offer a more convincing hybrid version of its latest Altima, which is already one of five recent releases to offer best-in-class fuel consumption, while the US-spec Maxima and Murano are also likely candidates for petrol-electric powertrains.

For now, Nissan’s upmarket Infiniti brand offers a hybrid version of only its large M sedan, but it’s reportedly not very profitable for the company.

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