Ghosn: Nissan's electrification is too slow Chinese companies are doing a good job

According to foreign media reports, Carlos Ghosn, former chairman of Nissan, who was very fond of electric vehicle technology a decade ago, said that now automakers should devote themselves to this technology, and accused the former owner of lacking foresight in this new era.

(Image source: Ghosn LinkedIn)

Ghosn said new players in the industry, including Tesla and electric car manufacturers from China, have an advantage over traditional car companies. He also warned that established car companies such as Nissan must speed up to remain competitive in a rapidly changing environment. Ghosn said in an interview: "The speed of the transition to electric vehicles will determine who can be the winner. ”

Previously, Nissan announced that it would invest $18 billion by 2030 to make 50% of its total global sales from electric vehicles. But Ghosn said the pace was too slow. He said: "Nissan is in a very bad position in this race. They have no vision, they don't know where to go, they don't have any concept of this huge technological change that's happening. ”

Ghosn said the current electric car boom proves that he was right about what he had done before. In 2010, Nissan released the Leaf electric model, and in the years that followed, Nissan planned to sell hundreds of thousands of electric vehicles a year, but the market demand at that time was not so high. From this point of view, Ghosn's plan is indeed correct, but it is too far ahead of its time. "When I released the first mass-market electric car, a lot of people were laughing at us, thinking we were going to fail," Ghosn said. ”

Today, however, most car companies have joined the bandwagon, investing billions of dollars in electric vehicles. In this regard, Ghosn said: "I think such an investment amount is not too much. We want to achieve 100% electrification. The market is telling you that we will completely abandon the internal combustion engine. He also mentioned Tesla's soaring market capitalization, which has broken through the $1 trillion mark this year.

In addition, he said that Chinese companies attach great importance to the development of electric vehicles, because these car companies are latecomers in the automotive industry, and they need to invest in the latest and greatest technologies to improve their competitiveness. "Chinese companies are doing a very good job of electrification," he said. ”

Ghosn currently lives in his childhood hometown of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. He previously faced financial misconduct charges in Japan and fled Japan for Beirut in December 2019. Ghosn added that he is currently in Lebanon providing consulting services on electrified mobility.