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Johannesburg - Japanese carmaker Nissan is in early talks with the South African government on plans to introduce its electric car, the Leaf, into the local market.
"We can work with the South African government to introduce incentives to boost the electric vehicle technology in this country," said Gilles Normand, Nissan's corporate vice president for Africa, Middle East and India.
Normand was in South Africa to attend the launch of the fourth generation Nissan Micra - the car manufacturer's latest attempt at gaining a bigger share of the fast growing entry level passenger car segment.
He said that talks with the authorities on the Leaf centre on infrastructure, incentives and education - conditions that would make South Africa "electric car friendly".
Infrastructure would involve setting up recharging stations in metropolitan areas.
Normand said that incentives do not necessarily involve financial compensation to Nissan but rather policies that would stimulate demand for the vehicle. These could include exemption from emmission taxes and the proposed toll road taxes on Gauteng freeways.
"We need incentives because we do not have the economies of scale when we manufacture the Leaf, it has to be financially viable," said Normand.
Investment in education is essential to change consumer attitude towards the car. It is likely to be seen as a foreign product by most people who may also harbour suspicions that electric vehicles are not reliable.
Normand said that research has shown that 85% of the cars in the world do not travel more than 100 km a day, indicating that electric cars would be sufficient to meet the majority of motorists' daily requirements.
Nissan's talks with the government include the possibility of transfering electric vehicle technology to South Africa. It would also assess the viability of manufacturing electric components or even whole cars in the country.
The Leaf is already on sale in the United States, Japan and some European countries and the company has received 27 000 orders since it was launched. Normand said that he expects Nissan to sell more than 50 000 units this year.
Nissan SA's managing director Mike Whitfield said that the car was available for import to South Africa "as soon as we are ready for it".
The global electric vehicle market is expected to make up 20% of total passenger vehicles by 2020. Whitfield said that South Africa is behind the curve on this trend and he expects electric vehicles to make up 7% of the local market by 2020.
The zero-emission Leaf was the winner of the Car of the Year 2011 competition.
- Fin24.com
"We can work with the South African government to introduce incentives to boost the electric vehicle technology in this country," said Gilles Normand, Nissan's corporate vice president for Africa, Middle East and India.
Normand was in South Africa to attend the launch of the fourth generation Nissan Micra - the car manufacturer's latest attempt at gaining a bigger share of the fast growing entry level passenger car segment.
He said that talks with the authorities on the Leaf centre on infrastructure, incentives and education - conditions that would make South Africa "electric car friendly".
Infrastructure would involve setting up recharging stations in metropolitan areas.
Normand said that incentives do not necessarily involve financial compensation to Nissan but rather policies that would stimulate demand for the vehicle. These could include exemption from emmission taxes and the proposed toll road taxes on Gauteng freeways.
"We need incentives because we do not have the economies of scale when we manufacture the Leaf, it has to be financially viable," said Normand.
Investment in education is essential to change consumer attitude towards the car. It is likely to be seen as a foreign product by most people who may also harbour suspicions that electric vehicles are not reliable.
Normand said that research has shown that 85% of the cars in the world do not travel more than 100 km a day, indicating that electric cars would be sufficient to meet the majority of motorists' daily requirements.
Nissan's talks with the government include the possibility of transfering electric vehicle technology to South Africa. It would also assess the viability of manufacturing electric components or even whole cars in the country.
The Leaf is already on sale in the United States, Japan and some European countries and the company has received 27 000 orders since it was launched. Normand said that he expects Nissan to sell more than 50 000 units this year.
Nissan SA's managing director Mike Whitfield said that the car was available for import to South Africa "as soon as we are ready for it".
The global electric vehicle market is expected to make up 20% of total passenger vehicles by 2020. Whitfield said that South Africa is behind the curve on this trend and he expects electric vehicles to make up 7% of the local market by 2020.
The zero-emission Leaf was the winner of the Car of the Year 2011 competition.
- Fin24.com
