As expected, today Carlos Ghosn unveiled the Alliance 2022, a six-year plan for three automakers: Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi.
Also as expected, this six-year plan is all about synergy as we can see in the press release below.
“Under Alliance 2022, the member companies will increase their use of common platforms, with nine million units based on four common platforms. The plan will also extend the use of common powertrains to 75 percent of total sales.
Alliance 2022 plans a major expansion in shared electric vehicle technologies, alongside the development and deployment of advanced autonomous drive systems, vehicle connectivity and new mobility services.
Twelve new zero-emission electric vehicles will be launched by 2022, utilizing new common electric vehicle platforms and components for multiple segments. Over the same period, 40 vehicles will be introduced with different levels of autonomy, all the way to fully autonomous capability. Becoming an operator of robo-vehicle ride-hailing services is a major part of the new mobility services strategy.
The launch of a new logo and online presence was also revealed today for the Alliance, symbolizing the growing convergence and cooperation between the member companies.”
Furthermore, the Alliance wants to reinforce its position as a leader in electric cars.
“1. Reinforcing electric vehicle leadership
As the original pioneer and global leader in pure EV sales, the objective remains to be the number one provider of mainstream, mass market and affordable EVs around the world. By 2022, the member companies will significantly increase their product range to cover all main segments in their key markets of Japan, the USA, China and Europe.
The electrification building block will involve:
- Common, scalable EV platforms for multiple segments by 2020, with a forecast that 70 percent of EV volumes will be based on shared platforms by 2022
- A new family of EV motor and batteries to be introduced from 2020, shared across the member companies;
- 12 new pure electric vehicles to be launched by 2022
- More than 600km EV range reached by 2022, based on NEDC homologation methodology
- 30 percent decrease in battery cost from 2016 to 2022
- 15 minutes charging time to deliver range of 230km by 2022, upfrom 90km in 2016, based on NEDC homologation methodology
- Optimized, flat packaging of the battery, providing additional cabin space and greater styling flexibility
- Adoption of Mitsubishi Motors’ new PHEV technology as the common C/D segment PHEV solution by 2022″
You can see the whole press conference here. Unlike most CEOs of legacy automakers, Carlos Ghosn is always very interesting to listen to.
Ghosn knows why electric cars aren’t mainstream yet and that’s why the Alliance is currently working to increase the range, decrease the charging time and reduce the price. By 2022, the Alliance will have a vast offer of electric cars, while others, such as Toyota or Mazda will still have a very limited offer.
Nonetheless, the Alliance should stop using the unrealistic NEDC and replace it with WLTP in its advertisements and press releases…
Finally, next month each of the three automakers that belong to the Alliance will unveil their unique strategies to make this six-year plan work.
