Sunday, October 18, 2009

Carlos Ghosn bets Renault-Nissan on electric drivetrains



Within the industry, the adjective most often used to describe Mr Ghosn’s plan to make the Renault-Nissan Alliance the first big manufacturer of zero-emission vehicles is “bold”—in other words, somewhere between very risky and certifiably mad. In particular, most analysts consider Mr Ghosn’s forecasts of demand for electric cars to be wildly optimistic.The French carmaker aims to be the first big producer of zero-emission vehicles.

The Economist





Update: Here's a quote from Carlos about Hybrids responding to a question from Shimon Peres:

Peres couldn’t help blurting out, “So what do you think of hybrids?” “I think they make no sense,” Ghosn said confidently. “A hybrid is like a mermaid: if you want a fish, you get a woman; if you want a woman, you get a fish.”

1 comment:

  1. Keep in mind that he's saying this after a couple of years of poor sales of the Altima Hybrid. (Relative to other manufacturers, not sure what Nissan's projected sales were.)

    While full electrics may be the future, it takes hybrids to get the populace used to the idea of full electrics by being an electric car with a fail safe device. Had there been no Prius, Chevy would not be investing so much time, $ and betting their future on the Cruze.

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