Nissan is planning to cut the costs of manufacturing electric vehicles by nearly a third by 2030, as it seeks to compete with Chinese rivals.
It comes as the Japanese company, which sold 3.4m cars globally last year, aims to increase sales by an extra 1m by 2026.
As part of the plan Nissan will launch 30 new models in the next three years, with 16 of these slated to be electric vehicles.
This would mean that EVs will account for 40% of all sales by the 2026, and rise to 60% by the end of the decade.
It aims to reduce the costs of producing these vehicles by 30% within the 2030 fiscal year, by looking to new battery innovations, next-generation modular manufacturing and group sourcing of parts.
The move by Nissan mirrors that of other carmakers in the US, Europe and Japan as they try to bring down EV costs and prices amid tough competition from Chinese rivals, which have gained a significant market share in the industry, and are often able to produce more affordable vehicles.
The EU Commission said last year that Chinese models were typically 20% cheaper than European-made models.
Nissan was an early adopter of electric vehicle technology with the Nissan Leaf, which it claimed was the world’s first mass-market electric car, but has since fallen behind Chinese competitors such as BYD and Li Auto.
The Japanese carmaker said it plants across the globe adopt the Nissan Intelligent Factory concept, which was launched at its Tochigi Plant, and leans heavily on robots, reducing production time by a fifth.
Nissan’s Sunderland plant will be included in this plan, with adoption starting in 2026 and completing in 2030.
It will also begin to develop EVs in “families” where a “main vehicle” will be created and variations based on that design will be rolled out. This will reduce costs on these variations by 50%, and lower development lead times by four months.
Earlier this month, Nissan said it would join forces with its rival Honda and work together on electric vehicle technology.
The memorandum of understanding between Honda and Nissan, respectively the country’s second- and third-largest carmakers behind Toyota, will see both firms work on EV technology, including components and software, with the aim of cutting development costs by combining resources.
As part of its three-year plan to drive up sales across the globe, Nissan aims to sell 330,000 extra vehicles in the US by 2026. It also hopes to increase Chines sales by 200,000, to 1m, sales in the next three years.
