Nissan (Green) Friday: Ghosn Still Sees 1.5 Million EVs
Asked today at the annual results conference in Yokohama whether he wants to back off from his old target of putting 1.5 million EVs on the road by 2016, Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn displayed an astounding degree of determination. He still believes in the 1.5 million. Maybe a little later than 2016.
So far, Nissan sold 62,000 Leafs. In the last months, Ghosn observed “an acceleration of the sales of the Leaf.” The people who bought the battery-operated car are happy, says Ghosn.
Happy owners spread the word “that this is a good car, and that charging the car is not such a big problem – if you know where to do it.” Ghosn banks on a better charging infrastructure, and he sees good signs of one in many countries. Says the man:
“This range anxiety, which is more a charging anxiety, will disappear and will help a lot to increase the sales. I maintain the 1.5 million. I think it will be difficult to reach in 2016, but without any doubt it’s still on the radar screen.”
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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EVs are a failure pushed by eco-hippie globalist governments so they can give kickbacks to their friends in the environmental industry. Mark my words, EVs are a fad and petroleum is hear to stay, especially with tech like fracking finding oil that (surprise!) eco-nannies said didn't exist.
Oh yes the EV deniers. I've noticed even TTAC is starting to be less rabid. EVs are here to stay and while I agree, I think Ghosn's estimate is a bit too optimistic it won't be far off. Say 2020-2022? The prius is in it's 3rd generation and Toyota is selling them well. The Volt/Leaf are still gen I and generally a new product. They're actually selling comparative to the price point and size. I don't know if folks live near the super-stations I see now but I was talking with a regional manager about why they're all so huge, 18-24 pumps and even during rush hour they're at best half full. He was saying it's all part of an effort to become charging stations in the next decade or so. Being a small cafe to chill out at for 20-30 minutes while your car picks up enough charge to go on. The stations see it coming. I think flyover country will be resistant the longest but I see the coasts adopting it now slowly and fully integrated by 2020.