Nissan LEAF News

Nissan Australia managing director Stephen Lester has confirmed the company’s focus in Australia will move towards EVs and SUVs, having today announced Nissan will pull out of the Supercars championship at the end of 2018.Citing that there are “other priorities” and that “strategies have changed” for Nissan Australia, Lester said the brand will put the spotlight on positioning itself as a technology leader.“Since my arrival we’ve taken stock of the market and what the possibilities would be,” Lester said. “There are currently no plans to consider other vehicles for racing in Supercars. We have aligned our strategy to focus on EVs, SUVs and Nissan Intelligent Mobility.”The company had been umming and ahhing on the potential for cars like its Leaf EV to succeed in the local market, but Lester stated the Leaf will come here because “the product strategy continues to evolve”.“We will explore all opportunities - this is a fantastic brand of ours, and where we see products that we see fit for Australian consumers we will be more than happy to offer them in Australia,” Lester said.Whether that could mean the relaunch of a full range of passenger cars, rather than the pared back line-up of today which consists of several SUVs, the Navara ute range and two sports cars - the 370Z and GT-R - remains to be seen.The question was put to Lester as to whether the company is considering models such as the Micra, Pulsar and Altima for relaunch locally, but he wasn’t willing to state categorically what the plans are.“As product plans go, it is a fluid process. My personal direction is not to abandon passenger cars. And we will see the Nissan Leaf on sale later this fiscal year, and from that you can see we will bring passenger cars back to the market.“With all product decisions, we will entertain opportunities to bring those vehicles to market. Whether that means the new-generation Altima will come or not is yet to be confirmed.”The decision for Nissan to leave Supercars won't mean there won't be an Altima on the track next year. The Kelly Bros racing team will continue with the mid-sized Nissan sedan as its racer in 2019, but it won't be officially backed by Nissan.The Altima - like the Falcon and previous-gen Commodore - aren't available for consumers to buy anymore. Nissan put the axe to Altima in April 2017, as well as chopping the Pulsar from its ranks.

NCAP currently has 192 employees and 13 casting machines, with 60 unique components produced for export to several markets.

While it doesn't look like it from where we sit in the Antipodes, Nissan has a proper hit on its hands with the all-electric hatchback, the Leaf.

Flares have never gone out of fashion in Japan and the annual Tokyo Auto Salon shows why.

The electric dream is fast turning into a nightmare - Australian sales of electric vehicles have dwindled to a trickle.

Nissan Australia has shocked the automotive manufacturing industry by confirming the future of its casting and parts factory is secure "well beyond 2020".The fresh hope for the facility in Dandenong South was announced today after Nissan Australia secured a deal to continue manufacturing parts for the Nissan Leaf electric car and 38 other models sold internationally.Manufacturing is far from dead in Australia and we're proof of this"Manufacturing is far from dead in Australia and we're proof of this," said Peter Jones, the managing director of Nissan Casting Australia."Amid the turmoil that's been reported about our country's manufacturing sector, especially in the local automotive industry, Nissan's been working away in the background."The Nissan factory has been running around the clock, three shifts, seven days a week for the past six months, such is the demand for its parts.It exports components to Japan, the US, the UK, Thailand, Mexico and South Korea.About 160 people are employed there and Nissan says it expects to recruit more workers to keep up with parts supply.Nissan Australia makes components for a range of vehicles including the Leaf electric car, Navara pick-up, X-Trail SUV and others, and each component has a small kangaroo stamped onto it.The Nissan factory has also secured a deal to produce parts for a top secret future carNissan says it has been working with the CSIRO to develop a unique manufacturing technique that saves up to $100,000 per component."With the CSIRO, we developed … a casting technology that eliminates valve blockages caused by the molten aluminium. It avoids machine stoppages and can save us up to $100,000 a year in the production of a single component," said Mr Jones.The Nissan factory has also secured a deal to produce parts for a top secret future car."This new business includes driveline components for soon-to- be-released models, new motor technology and all-new propulsion systems not yet announced, so I'm afraid I can't share any details with you. (But) these developments will see Nissan Casting Australia operating well beyond 2020," said Mr Jones.Former industry minister, Senator Kim Carr, who oversaw the Federal Government funding of the automotive industry, said: "This is a huge vote of confidence from a major international investor in Australia's automotive skills and capabilities".Senator Carr said the Nissan example shows "Australia's auto industry has a bright future with the right policy settings. We can attract new investment, new jobs, and new technologies."Staff employed: 160Three shifts a day, seven days a week.Factory size: 20,000 square metres on 90,000 square metres of landOutput: 2.3 million castings and about 25,000 Nissan vehicle accessories, including towbars.Components produced: 49 separate components including 39 castings and 10 vehicle accessories.Exports: Japan, US, UK, Thailand, South Korea and Mexico.A small kangaroo appears in every casting Nissan makes in Australia.Parts are fitted to: 39 different models, including Nissan, Renault and Infiniti Cars.

A vote by 75 motoring journalists from 22 countries has awarded the compact prestige car the World Car of the Year award for 2015.It finished on top of a 24-car field and eventually beat the two other finalists, the Ford Mustang and Volkswagen Passat.The other big prizes for 2015, Green Car of the Year and Performance Car of the Year, went to the plug-in hybrid BMW i8 and the Mercedes-AMG GT coupe.The winners were announced at the New York Motor Show today at an event hosted by Bridgestone Corporation and Autoneum at the culmination of a six-month voting process.The C-Class delivers levels of refinement, luxury, safety, ride and handling that challenge best-in-class.The awards are in their 11th year and previous winners include the Audi A6, BMW 3 Series, Lexus LS460 and Volkswagen Golf, Polo and Up.To be eligible for the overall World Car award, candidate cars must have become available for sale on at least two continents between January 1, 2014 and May 31, 2015.The WCOTY wins by Mercedes-Benz follow its victories in the Green Car contest in 2007 with the E320 Bluetec and 2012 with the S 250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY and its Luxury Car success with the S Class in 2014.“We are extremely delighted of winning the honour of World Car of the Year,” says the chairman of Daimler, Dr Dieter Zetsche.The WCOTY victory follows a similar success for the C-Class in the CarsGuide Car of the Year award.The WCOTY judging panel says: “Taking its design and technological cues from the S-Class, the C-Class employs an all-new aluminium/steel hybrid platform and updated rear-drive powertrains that delivers levels of refinement, luxury, safety, ride and handling that challenge best-in-class.” WORLD CAR OF THE YEAR AWARDS 2015Overall winner: Mercedes-Benz C-ClassGreen Car: BMW i8Performance Car: Mercedes-AMG GTLuxury Car: Mercedes-Benz S CoupeDesign: Citroen CactusPREVIOUS WORLD COTY WINNERS:2014: Audi A32013: Volkswagen Golf2012: Volkswagen Up2011: Nissan Leaf2010: Volkswagen Polo2009: Volkswagen Golf2008: Mazda22007: Lexus LS4602006: BMW 3 Series2005: Audi A6

The wheels have seized on the electric car revolution in Australia.

Can the new BMW i3 change the way Australians embrace electric cars?The increase in fuel tax has sparked predictable radio chatter this week about the cost of motoring. Apart from ordinary families facing another belt in the budget, experts from all points of the compass talked about the future of fossil fuel and the hybrid and plug-in electric cars already on the road.One spoke of fuel cell cars that generate on-board electricity (but not of the hydrogen stations needed to keep them going).The reality is that electric cars, despite big talk by everyone up to global head of Nissan-Renault Carlos Ghosn, are struggling for traction across the world.So far this year, only 200 Australians have bought a battery car. We don't know how many are with ordinary motorists or government departments and councils.The big problems for battery cars are obvious: cost and 'range anxiety'. The price problem will never go away until governments are prepared to provide the sort of subsidies that have boosted sales in Europe and the US going back to the original Toyota Prius. The Australian list price for a Leaf is $39,990 - it's similar in size to the Pulsar you can buy for less than $20,000. The Holden Volt is $59,990.Range anxiety is the fear of running short of charge, even though Australians typically commute less than 100km daily.Both challenges came into sharp relief this week as I slid into the latest electric contender, the BMW i3. It's a brilliant car, despite four safety stars, trendy, efficient and drives well.BMW has an optional range-extender engine that lifts the distance between charges to 300km but there is still the problem of price - are people prepared to pay at least $63,900 for a future car that's here and now?

THE Audi A3 small car -- which owes much of its DNA to the Volkswagen Golf -- has won the 2014 World Car of the Year, as voted by 69 jurors from 22 countries. The luxury hatch toppled the widely-tipped favourite, the Mazda3 from Japan, in the awards announced at the New York motor show today.The Audi A3 was among five German cars that took out a cleansweep of the 2014 World Car of the Year categories, and it was Audi’s second win in 10 years, having won the inaugural award. Indeed, German cars have won seven of the past 10 World Car of the Year awards, Japanese brands have won the remaining three.Accepting the award on behalf of the company, Audi's North America president Scott Keogh said: “The Audi A3 has only been on sale three weeks and already it’s off to a flying start.”Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of Audi, said: “This major award win is an achievement that the whole company can celebrate.”The Audi A3 was among 24 finalists that included the BMW i3 electric car, which won the Green Car of the Year and the Car Design of the Year. The Mercedes-Benz S-Class was the Luxury Car of the Year while the Porsche 911 GT3 was awarded top performance car honours.But the Mazda3 had emerged as an early favourite for the outright World Car of the Year award following rave reviews globally since it went on sale late last year. The previous generation Mazda3 has been Australia’s top selling car for two of the past three years, and was the vehicle that ended the Holden Commodore’s record 15-years as the market leader, in 2011.The Mazda3 is returned to the top of the sales charts so far this year -- after being overtaken by the Toyota Corolla in 2013 -- and is likely to take out top-seller status this year buoyed by the new model which went on sale in January.World car of the year winners2014 – Audi A32013 -- Volkswagen Golf Mk72012 -- Volkswagen Up2011 -- Nissan Leaf2010 -- Volkswagen Polo2009 -- Volkswagen Golf Mk62008 -- Mazda22007 -- Lexus LS4602006 -- BMW 3 Series2005 -- Audi A62014 World Car of The Year category winnersGreen car of the Year -- BMW i3 electric carCar Design of the Year -- BMW i3 electric carPerformance Car of the Year -- Porsche 911 GT3Luxury Car of the Year – Mercedes-Benz S-ClassThis reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling