The CEO behind Leaf and Nissan’s early electric push says current EV plans are pretty coy

Carlos Ghosn, former Nissan CEO who oversaw the launch of the Leaf and was later arrested for alleged financial misconduct, has emerged with some harsh criticism of automakers’ current EV plans.

In one The interview lasted almost two hours first recorded by Automotive News, Ghosn mentioned the plans of Nissan and established automakers, arguing that their plans to expand production of electric cars are timid and that current management of the industry lacks vision. .

Automakers are clinging to the internal combustion engine, Ghosn said, adding that this is why the stock market makes Tesla the most valuable carmaker by far despite the market. very small portion. The market is betting on electric cars, and the established automakers don’t understand it, Ghosn said.

Nissan Leaf 2011

Ghosn is said to have managed to turn around Nissan and its alliance partner Renault before being arrested and then fleeing Japan to Lebanon. During his tenure, Ghosn managed the launch of the Nissan Leaf, setting ambitious sales targets that were yet to be met. But by making one of the first commitments by a major automaker to sell a modern electric vehicle, Ghosn has positioned himself as a pioneer in electric vehicles on par with CEO Elon Musk’s own. Tesla.

“We were the first two to bet on electric cars,” he said.

Ghosn has spent a lot of time criticizing his former employer, calling the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance now “a disaster on every level.” Nissan, he said, has fallen back to the state it was in before he took over as CEO in 1999 when, as Ghosn sees it, the automaker followed rival Toyota rather than charting its route. only me.

2023 Nissan Ariya

Nissan has surpassed the global sales of 500,000 Leaf units in 2020 after 10 years on the market. Under Ghosn, Nissan initially set a target of 500,000 EV sales by 2012. Nissan has discount of the leaf 2022 as it prepares to roll out a bunch of new EVs. The automaker announced earlier this year that it Targeting 40% battery-electric models to 2030.

The Nissan Ariya crossover is expected to start shipping next year, and the automaker recently unveiled several concept cars that give a glimpse of its next steps — perhaps including including one thistle.

Nissan is also said to be considering a compact electric pickup, one that could also have been suggested by another Recently published new concept.