Nissan Motors to roll out new EV models in Hong Kong as sales slow in mainland China

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The Japanese carmaker plans to launch two new EV models in Hong Kong within a year, including a sport-utility vehicle and a small electric van

Plans for new launches emerge as the company’s deliveries of conventional cars on mainland China slumped 24.4 per cent in the first half of the year to 358,509 units

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Photographers take pictures of Nissan Motor’s electric vehicle called “Leaf”. Photo: AFP

Martin Choi

Published: 7:00am, 3 Aug 2023

Japanese carmaker Nissan Motors plans to roll out new electric vehicle models into the Hong Kong market and to expand its presence by targeting the city’s tech-savvy drivers with new technologies and battery technologies.

The move follows recent setbacks for Japan’s top carmakers in the mainland market where their first half sales plunged by a fifth in a market with fast-changing customer demands.

“It is an interesting market where we are able to try new technologies and the people are willing to try new technologies,” said Nissan’s Asean president Isao Sekiguchi, in an interview.

The Japanese carmaker plans to launch two new EV models in Hong Kong within a year, including a sport-utility vehicle (SUV) and a small electric van, to “stay on top of the competition in one of the important markets that we foresee going forward,” he said.

Photo shows the driving cab of the “Nissan LEAF” electric vehicle (EV) in Hong Kong, south China. The “Nissan LEAF” EV, is a 5- seat electric saloon car with a maximum speed of 145km/h and a driving range of over 160km per full charge. Photo: Xinhua

The latest data from the Transport Department shows that as of June, Hong Kong had 59,796 registered plug-in EVs, an 84 per cent increase from 32,493 a year ago. EVs make up 9.2 per cent of the city’s private cars, according to data from the Transport Department.