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Automaker roadmaps vary on how to sell green cars
October 24, 2012, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
NISSAN
Nissan is expected to begin promoting its electric car Leaf in China. The car is currently undergoing road testing. But it is likely the company won't be marketing the car under its own name.
The Japanese carmaker and its Chinese partner Dongfeng Motor Group have decided to mass-produce a Leaf look-alike electric car in China under their co-owned brand Venucia. The car, introduced as the Venucia E-Concept this year, bears a striking resemblance with Leaf both inside and out.
Re-branding Leaf to highlight its Chinese parentage may qualify the car for government subsidies and preferential policies aimed at popularizing domestic electric vehicles. The joint venture between Nissan and Dongfeng has signed a contract with the Dalian government in Liaoning Province to deliver 1,000 Venucia electric cars for the city's pilot program for alternative-energy cars by 2014.
General Motors
Taking Nissan's localization strategy one step further, General Motors is developing electric cars with its Chinese partner SAIC.
Their co-produced electric variant of the hot-selling Chevrolet Sail was first unveiled as a concept car in 2010 and may appear at the upcoming Guangzhou Auto Show in its mass production version. The move is in response to a call by the Chinese government to make the auto joint venture more localized in research and development. The electricity-powered Sail could be marketed under government subsidies in China under a new brand to be co-launched by General Motors and SAIC.
BMW
The once hard-core supporter of hydrogen vehicles is still doing small-scale production of electric cars. It is already running their biggest road test in the world through a consumer try-out program for its first purely electric model MINI E.
BMW, as a relative latecomer to the Chinese electric car market, has its work cut out. The strategy is not so much about selling cars as proving their reliability and increasing user acceptance of electric technology.
A similar road test for BMW's second all-electric car Active E has taken off.
That may pave the way to the actual sales campaign of the imported BMW i3 electric concept car, which is scheduled for volume production next year in Germany.
BYD
The Chinese figurehead for new energy vehicles may double down on its strategy of selling electric cars to public and government fleets, which seem to be the best marketing bet in a country where consumers are still reticent about abandoning combustion engines.
Its all-electric car E6 has been long undergoing real world testing in taxis in Shenzhen to help cultivate consumer trust. However, not long after BYD began sales of the car, an E6 car was involved in a collision that caused a fatal fire, raising anew questions about the safety of the firm's battery technology. Though investigation found no design defects, the crash has undermined consumer confidence. On the bright side, the central government has reaffirmed its faith in the company by announcing plans to add 12 E6s to its public fleet.
Nissan is expected to begin promoting its electric car Leaf in China. The car is currently undergoing road testing. But it is likely the company won't be marketing the car under its own name.
The Japanese carmaker and its Chinese partner Dongfeng Motor Group have decided to mass-produce a Leaf look-alike electric car in China under their co-owned brand Venucia. The car, introduced as the Venucia E-Concept this year, bears a striking resemblance with Leaf both inside and out.
Re-branding Leaf to highlight its Chinese parentage may qualify the car for government subsidies and preferential policies aimed at popularizing domestic electric vehicles. The joint venture between Nissan and Dongfeng has signed a contract with the Dalian government in Liaoning Province to deliver 1,000 Venucia electric cars for the city's pilot program for alternative-energy cars by 2014.
General Motors
Taking Nissan's localization strategy one step further, General Motors is developing electric cars with its Chinese partner SAIC.
Their co-produced electric variant of the hot-selling Chevrolet Sail was first unveiled as a concept car in 2010 and may appear at the upcoming Guangzhou Auto Show in its mass production version. The move is in response to a call by the Chinese government to make the auto joint venture more localized in research and development. The electricity-powered Sail could be marketed under government subsidies in China under a new brand to be co-launched by General Motors and SAIC.
BMW
The once hard-core supporter of hydrogen vehicles is still doing small-scale production of electric cars. It is already running their biggest road test in the world through a consumer try-out program for its first purely electric model MINI E.
BMW, as a relative latecomer to the Chinese electric car market, has its work cut out. The strategy is not so much about selling cars as proving their reliability and increasing user acceptance of electric technology.
A similar road test for BMW's second all-electric car Active E has taken off.
That may pave the way to the actual sales campaign of the imported BMW i3 electric concept car, which is scheduled for volume production next year in Germany.
BYD
The Chinese figurehead for new energy vehicles may double down on its strategy of selling electric cars to public and government fleets, which seem to be the best marketing bet in a country where consumers are still reticent about abandoning combustion engines.
Its all-electric car E6 has been long undergoing real world testing in taxis in Shenzhen to help cultivate consumer trust. However, not long after BYD began sales of the car, an E6 car was involved in a collision that caused a fatal fire, raising anew questions about the safety of the firm's battery technology. Though investigation found no design defects, the crash has undermined consumer confidence. On the bright side, the central government has reaffirmed its faith in the company by announcing plans to add 12 E6s to its public fleet.
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