OSTIA (ROME) – If it has to be e-day, that it is as it should be. And then, those of Nissan decided to show the jewels. All. Juke, Ariya, X-Trail, Qashqai. “We wanted them all to be together, to be able to drive.” Marco Toro, president and administrator of Nissan Italia, wanted to celebrate this 2022 which ends in beauty this way. Nissan records important sales figures. And, as a former footballer (and a huge Napoli fan) he says without hiding: “Where are we in the match? Well, we’re winning. I say it, it’s like this: there’s no need to be superstitious…”.
The manager recounts: “We sold the new Qashqai without having the car yet, which we will deliver in April 2023. And the customers believed in us. How? Because? Simple: we have trained our salesmen, in order to be able to explain the electric well, on which there is still a lot of confusion. And then we told the customers that we would return the deposit if they weren’t convinced”.
The information was enough: e-power, “a system that only we have”, convinced potential buyers. What is the secret of e-power? An internal combustion engine that works only to generate electricity, and therefore the car behaves like a 100% electric one and does not require plug charging. To fill up on energy and travel on electric, just put petrol in the tank. “And the range is 1000 kilometres. Sorry, 1032 to be exact. And you journalists confirmed it yourself when you tested the car in Stockholm. Each of you had a different driving style, yet that range was confirmed. And don’t come and tell me that Swedish roads are different…”. You can joke at a time like this. Favorable when the electrical data is negative. But Nissan, Toro explains, knew how to invest in the transition. Clearly more efficient than others.
But there are other goodies, however. For example, the e-4ORCE, the four-wheel drive system combined with electrified propulsion units, consisting of two electric motors, one for each axle, with driving force and braking action managed on the individual wheels: safety, control and comfort are obtained. Or the e-PedalStep: allows you to accelerate and slow down the car with just the accelerator pedal. What do you get? A smooth and relaxing drive especially in the city, in case of traffic. And it also improves battery regeneration.
This is the state of the art Nissan, which has verified how its ‘Japanese DNA’ has won the trust of customers. “And then, the crossovers: I don’t know if earlier, or better than others, we understood what the market demand was: Juke paved the way for all the others”. Crossover, the mix of styles. A bit like the melting pot of life, the melting pot of races.
But ‘Japaneseness’ is the key, the abc: for Nissan it means attention and customer care, which translate into the ‘Nissan Promise’, a unique assistance service program on the market (operating for six years): courtesy car free, for any type of intervention and even outside the warranty period; free roadside assistance 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even outside the warranty period; free checkup before each intervention; best quality/price ratio, i.e. the willingness to apply the estimate offered by any other workshop within a radius of 5 km (provided you use original spare parts).
What else? Well, the ‘vision’ remains, which is long-term: under the Ambition 2030 plan investments of 16 billion euros are planned, the launch of 23 new electrified models of which 15 will be 100% electric and the development and production of solid-state batteries (-70% of the cost and shorter recharge times compared to the current ones).
The cost remains, a thorny topic (which applies to all electrics). Not according to Marco Toro. “That’s not exactly the case, that’s why we want to inform people better: do the math, between the state incentives and those of the brand to which fuel savings must be added. Have you seen the current diesel prices? Do the math, and you will discover substantial savings”. Word of Nissan.