Berita 24 English - Nissan Motor Co. and alliance partner Renault SA will standardize and share electric vehicle components, the Japanese a...
Berita 24 English - Nissan Motor Co. and alliance partner Renault SA will standardize and share electric vehicle components, the Japanese automaker's chief operating officer (COO) said, referring to electrification as the partnership's new lynchpin.
The Franco-Japanese alliance, which includes junior member Mitsubishi Motors Corp, has been strained in former Chairman Carlos Ghosn's arrest and ouster. Since then, the coronavirus pandemic has re-ignited the collaboration, and the companies have sought to standardize components and platforms to save money.
Nissan has already collaborated with Renault and Mitsubishi on common platforms, powertrains, and components. Still, those efforts have "exceeded what we should do," Nissan's COO Ashwani Gupta told Reuters in an interview on Friday.
"That is why we are shifting our focus to additional synergies, with electrification as the primary pillar," he explained.
The alliance's focus will be on sharing batteries, electric powertrains, and electronic architecture, noting that adopting a common standard across the alliance would "significantly" help achieve economies of scale.
Gupta stated that electrification would not pose a supply chain challenge for Nissan due to the company's global component sourcing. He stated that the company sourced batteries from China, Japan, Europe, and the United States.
Together, the alliance sold more than 7.8 million vehicles last year, decreasing about 23% from the previous year due to the pandemic's impact on the companies.
The push to share more work on electric vehicles (EVs) demonstrates the magnitude of the challenge confronting automakers worldwide as the industry is transformed by rapid technological advancements.
Ford and Volkswagen AG have formed a strategic alliance under which Ford will build some of Volkswagen's MEB electric vehicle platform models.
Toyota Motor Corp. has strengthened collaborations with Subaru Corp. and Chinese battery and automaker BYD to develop electric vehicles. At the same time, Honda Motor Co. and General Motors Co. will launch two jointly developed large-sized EV models in 2024 using GM's Ultrium batteries.
HURDLES FOR BATTERIES
Nissan, one of the world's first automakers to embrace fully electric vehicles with its Leaf model, will collaborate with Renault on the platform for its upcoming all-electric Ariya SUV.
Batteries are one of the most expensive components of EVs, with the majority of the cost coming from raw materials. Nonetheless, battery development has been one of the alliance's weak points over the past two decades, with Nissan and Renault sourcing batteries separately.
Renault CEO Luca de Meo stated earlier this month that the two companies are in talks to collaborate more closely by utilizing the same battery technology, and Gupta stated on Friday that the two companies have agreed on battery specifications.
Additionally, Gupta stated that while maintaining the distinct identity of each brand was critical for the alliance, the automakers would collaborate "to avoid resource duplication."
Nissan, Japan's third-largest automaker by sales, has stated that by the early 2030s, it will electrify all new models in key markets. By the end of fiscal 2023, it anticipates annual sales of more than one million electrified vehicles.
