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Frank Torres, president, Nissan India Operations
Japanese automaker Nissan is currently studying customer trends related to various powertrains, such as hybrid and CNG, in India but has no immediate plans to launch cars featuring these technologies in the country, Frank Torres, president, Nissan India Operations, said on Friday.
In recent months, sales of strong hybrid and CNG cars have surged in India, while electric car sales have seen a year-on-year decline. However, Torres, speaking to reporters after the launch of the Nissan Magnite facelift, expressed optimism about the long-term prospects of the electric vehicle (EV) market in India.
Nissan previously announced that it is going to launch an “affordable” EV by 2026. “It (EV) will be an SUV. The customer in India is evolving in terms of EVs. Today, the share of EVs in total car sales is just two per cent. It is seeing small growth right now. But we truly believe that it will be growing,” Torres stated.
In addition to the affordable EV, the company will also launch two internal combustion engine-run SUVs in India by 2026. Currently, Nissan sells two models in India—Magnite and X-Trail. As the company was tapering down sales of its old Magnite due to the impending facelift launch, its total car sales in India in the April-August period went down by 10 per cent year-on-year to 10,974 units.
Torres, who also holds the position of divisional vice president for business transformation in the AMIEO (Africa, Middle East, India, Europe, Oceania) region, stated that the Indian government’s forecast that by 2030, EVs will comprise about 25 per cent of total car sales in the country is “aggressive” and the company “will monitor this” growth trend.
“Our experience in Europe is that to grow from two per cent to 25 per cent in some countries took more than 15 years. We are sure that it will be much faster in India. It means it is important that we are ready,” he stated.
He also referred to the CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency) norms in India, which regulate the average fuel efficiency of a carmaker’s fleet to reduce fossil fuel consumption and carbon emissions. These norms push carmakers to launch lower-emission vehicles like hybrids and EVs. Currently, the Indian government is in discussion with carmakers to implement the new version of CAFE norms, which will be stricter.
“It is true that there are new rules that the government is putting in place in terms of emissions, and we must respect this. And the EV, of course, will help. But not only EVs…In terms of powertrain, yes, we are contemplating other powertrains. We still don’t have any plans to introduce them, but we are studying our product trends. It can be a hybrid, or it can be CNG. We are studying this. The key point is that the time and the size of the market for that technology have to be right to introduce that product,” Torres noted.
He also mentioned that it is important that any product launched in India also has strong export potential. “There have to be enough volumes to justify the scale of investment in that product,” he explained.
“Nissan has all the technology (powertrains) available. We were the first ones in the EV segment globally when we started with the launch of Nissan Leaf. It’s important that we match the real customer demand regarding EVs with our EV models,” Torres mentioned.
The Magnite facelift, which was launched on Friday afternoon, has a starting price of Rs 5.99 lakh (ex-showroom). This is similar to the starting price of the old Magnite.
First Published: Oct 04 2024 | 7:17 PM IST
