The German group will showcase its electric iX3 sport-utility vehicle with an extended chassis, which was developed in China using local technologies from Momenta, Huawei and Alibaba.
After decades of Chinese brands learning car manufacturing from their western rivals through their local joint ventures, the tables have turned, forcing VW, Toyota and others to rely on Chinese partners and supply chains to build cars faster and with advanced software.
“We are so big in China, we can’t walk away,” VW’s brand sales chief Martin Sander said at an industry event in London last month.
While Europe’s largest carmaker, which includes the Porsche and Audi brands, has long manufactured vehicles locally, it is also designing and developing its vehicles in China. “Because we just see what we’ve been doing in Europe for a long period of time is not competitive in the Chinese market,” Sander added.
Nissan will also aim to lift combined sales in China and exports from the country to 1mn units by 2030, up from 660,000 last year.
To do so, the Japanese group will collaborate further with its Chinese joint venture partner Dongfeng to bring the battery-powered N7 to Latin America and south-east Asia and the plug-in hybrid Frontier Pro pick-up truck to those two markets and the Gulf.
“China becomes a global innovation and export hub,” said Guillaume Cartier, Nissan’s chief performance officer.