Nissan is considering exporting vehicles out of China as it looks to exploit the country’s efficient supply chain and also replace sales lost to domestic makers in the country, CEO Makoto Uchida has said.
Like most global auto makers operating in China, Nissan has seen its market share fall due to growing consumer interest in new Chinese brands.
In the nine months to the end of 2022, Nissan’s share fell to 4.5%, down from 6.2% in the 2020 financial year, the company’s most recent numbers show.
Exporting locally built models could be one way to improve the efficiency of its China operations, Uchida said.
“Many OEMs are thinking about exporting and that could be one of the options we have to think about in the future,” Uchida told the Financial Times' Future of the Car conference on Wednesday.
China’s globally leading automotive supplier network, particularly in electric vehicles, can keep costs down to the point that exports become cost-effective. “There’s a good supplier base in China and we need to see how we can utilise that asset,” Uchida said.
Global brands exporting EVs from China to Europe include BMW with the iX3 SUV and Dacia with the Spring small EV. Nissan’s current exports include the Ariya electric SUV – from Japan, where build costs are likely to be higher due to the low numbers of EVs made in the country.
Nissan recently unveiled a new concept for a Chinese EV at the Shanghai motor show called the Arizon, based on the same CMF-EV platform as the Ariya. Nissan also markets the Venucia range of cars with its joint-venture partner Dongfeng, which includes a number of budget EVs.
Uchida said Nissan was working to adapt itself to a much faster pace shown by domestic car makers. “Their development lead time is quite agile as compared to our global standard,” he said. “Their time to market is much faster than we expected.”
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