Nissan EVs in China (Venucia brand in JV w/Dongfeng)

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cwerdna

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Saw this video last night (interview w/Ghosn):
http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000085691&play=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The article at http://www.cnbc.com/id/47138564" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; has a typo. It says
Ghosn said Nissan would also be introducing a new electric vehicle in China after the government announced last week that it wanted to have 5 million electric vehicles on the road between now and 2012.
In the interview w/Ghosn, he says 2020, NOT 2012.

Choice quote from the above article:
Nissan won’t be rolling out its Leaf electric vehicle in China, instead, the Chinese version will be sold under the Venucia brand, Ghosn said, and the company would transfer its electric-vehicle know-how to the JV with Dongfeng.
I wonder if the other brand and apparently not building the Leaf in China is due to Chinese government requirements for joint ventures and technology transfers (that I've heard of but don't know the details of). It's mentioned at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/21/business/global/gm-plans-to-develop-electric-cars-with-chinese-automaker.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. I've also heard of it from other places.
 
Decent picture up on ABG. Looks quite LEAFy:

http://green.autoblog.com/2012/04/24/nissans-venucia-jv-will-build-leaf-look-alike-in-china-by-2015/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

nissan-venucia-leaf-628.jpg
 
Nissan CEO Missteps In China: Says Venucia e30, EVs Need More Incentives To Sell:
http://insideevs.com/nissan-ceo-missteps-in-china-venucia-e30-evs-need-more-incentives-to-sell/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
Product page at http://www.dongfeng-nissan.com.cn/Venucia/car/e30.

I'm illiterate in Chinese but it looks like their head unit at http://www.dongfeng-nissan.com.cn/Venucia/car/e30#page_2/3 supports iOS screen mirroring.
 
cwerdna said:
I wonder if the other brand and apparently not building the Leaf in China is due to Chinese government requirements for joint ventures and technology transfers (that I've heard of but don't know the details of).

Correct. No non-Chinese or non-Taiwanese (whom Beijing does not look at as an independent country) manufacturing firms can have a majority stake in a company based in China, and must form a partnership with a local company (no doubt Beijing is a silent but assertive partner as well). However, that "partnership" can still build the Leaf under license the way the partnerships with GM, VW, etc. over there build cars under license using the same name and appearance as those elsewhere in the world.

I suspect that the reason Carlos Ghosn doesn't want the Nissan hamburger logo or the LEAF name on that car is that in case the quality control turns out to be awful, and these things start catching fire for example, it won't stain the Nissan name. Plus I also suspect it has something to do with world history: because of what they did in the first half of the 20th century, Japan may still be viewed as an aggressor nation by the Chinese, and a Japanese-branded product might invoke the same "Remember Pearl Harbor!"-like reactions there today like it did back as late as the 1980's here in the US. The Wall Street Journal mentions it here: http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2014/05/20/half-of-chinese-consumers-say-they-wouldnt-buy-a-japanese-car/

I do know from my visit to Korea last year that Japan is still largely viewed by them that way (with the current Japanese PM not exactly helping things with his views about the war), and I saw very few Japanese cars on the roads of Seoul. Ironically the most popular Japanese-brand import seems to be of all things, the USDM Nissan Altima. I thought these were cars brought back from North America by Koreans who decided to move back, but apparently you can get them new over there: http://www.nissan.co.kr/sedan/altima.asp

Japanese roads have even fewer Korean cars. Except for one Hyundai bus, I saw no Korean-brand vehicles at all in the two weeks I was there. I also noticed that the Samsung Galaxy phone was marketed in Japan under just "Galaxy" with the Samsung name and logo conspicuously missing: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/apr/20/samsung-drops-branding-galaxy-phones-japan
 
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