Following its failed attempts at a merger with Honda, Nissan (NSANY) is back at it, trying to reassure investors with a new product game plan and claiming it is still open to a deal or partnership.
At an event outside of Tokyo on Wednesday, the Japanese automaker said 10 new and updated vehicles are coming to North America by 2027.
Nissan said a next-gen Sentra sedan, Rogue SUV, and even the return of the Xterra SUV as an EV are in the works.
The Sentra, with 109,000 vehicles sold in the US, and Rogue, with nearly 250,000 US units sold, are big sellers for Nissan, and updates to them and vehicles like the Kicks SUV, Altima sedan, and Frontier pickup are important to the business.
To that end, Nissan previewed the new Leaf EV, showcasing a new sportier exterior, with underpinnings coming from the Ariya EV, which rides on Nissan’s newer CMF-EV platform.
The new Leaf will be more efficient and have a longer range than the current Leaf and will launch in the US in Q3.
Nissan’s recent troubles stem, in part, from the company building too many vehicles and having to cut prices in order to move bloated inventory. The company has also struggled to develop new vehicles, especially in China, where automaker has hemorrhaged sales.
As of 2:07:46 PM EDT. Market Open.
An emphasis on smart cars and making more compelling products for markets like China are “going to require a lot of work and a lot of investment that probably will need some partner,” said Ivan Espinosa, Nissan’s new CEO, per Bloomberg. “I’m open to Honda or other partners as long as these partners are helping us drive the vision of the business.”
Espinosa’s predecessor, Makoto Uchida, left his post after Nissan’s failed merger with Honda. While various excuses arose for the deal’s unraveling, it was assumed Uchida’s presence was a hindrance, though the veteran CEO did say it would be “difficult to survive” without future partnerships.
One of Espinosa’s main prerogatives is resurrecting a deal or partnership for Nissan, which doesn’t necessarily mean partnering with traditional automakers or OEMs (original equipment manufacturers).
“There’s another avenue, which is who should you partner with in order to develop this intelligent part of the future. There are some traits and some competencies that traditional OEMs don’t have,” Espinosa said.
Espinosa’s comments hint at what had been in the works just as of last month, a tie-up involving Taiwanese device maker Foxconn, which has auto ambitions of its own.
Reports suggested a consortium including Foxconn, and even Tesla, would swoop in to rescue Nissan with a cash infusion, with Foxconn and Tesla gaining access to Nissan’s large manufacturing footprint in the US.