The 10-year-old Nissan Motor Co.-Renault SA
joint venture will launch electric vehicles in the U.S. and Japan in 2010, and globally by 2012, the company says. Nissan is talking with companies, governments and cities to see what kind of incentives can make the introduction of zero-emission vehicles more attractive.
Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn thinks the electric car could ultimately change the business model for the auto industry. "In some ways it could move more toward how a mobile-phone operator works, because there the handset is only one part of the business; the rest is providing services to customers," Ghosn told the WSJ.
Consumers are becoming more Earth-conscious, whether by choice or not. In what is seen as a
"dramatic segment shift," the NYT reports, about one in five vehicles sold in the U.S. was a compact or subcompact car during April, compared to a decade ago when only one in eight vehicles sold was a small car.
Ghosn plans to offer a whole lineup of electric cars. Nissan already signed its
second shared manufacturing deal with Chrysler LLC for fuel efficient cars in North America, Europe and other global markets. -
Baz HiralalGo to the story from the WSJ
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