Nissan alliance to invest $25bn in electric vehicles

Nissan alliance to invest $25bn in electric vehicles

TOKYO:  The Nissan auto alliance said yestersday it will invest more than $25 billion in electric vehicles over the next five years, marking the latest massive cash injection into the fast-growing sector by the auto industry. Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi Motors said the latest outlay followed $11 billion already spent on its “offensive strategy in electrification”, promising 35 new electric models by 2030. Major global carmakers are increasingly prioritising electric and hybrid vehicles as concern about climate change grows. At present, around 10 percent of European car sales are EVs, but the US figure is just two percent. The alliance vowed to boost cooperation by using five common manufacturing platforms for most models-adding a new platform in 2024 to the existing four-as it ploughs 23 billion euros ($25.7 billion) into its EV strategy.

Some of the headline figure had already been announced by each company, but it marks the first concrete target set collectively by the trio since the reorganisation of top executives at Japan’s Nissan and France’s Renault. That restructuring was triggered by the saga surrounding the 2018 arrest of former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn, which exposed rifts in the alliance. “Three years ago, the alliance was experiencing a crisis