Nissan officials are scrambling to explain the intent behind a surprise statement Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn made this week about sharing electric car technology with Nissan’s Chinese joint-venture partner.
Speaking to reporters in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou, Ghosn said the Japanese auto maker is in discussions with Dongfeng Motor Group Co. about transferring lithium-ion battery know-how and other key electric-car technology to their car manufacturing and sales joint venture.
As the two companies explore the possibility of jointly producing and selling Nissan Leaf electric cars in China, Ghosn said that for Nissan, “there’s no limit to technology we bring to China.”
Ghosn’s remarks on electric vehicles, at a news conference Monday, come amid worries by many foreign auto executives about a ten-year plan China is drafting for the electric-vehicle industry that they fear could compel foreign companies to transfer technology to local joint ventures in a way that might result in their losing control of the technology.
Senior China-based Nissan executives said they hadn’t spoken to Ghosn about his “no limit” statement and aren’t sure what exactly he intended by making it.
One senior Nissan executive says his understanding is that Ghosn’s comments were intended as a “sweeping” statement that speaks to Nissan’s “general” attitude toward transferring advanced technology to its main partner in China.
“Generally speaking, in most cases, it’s difficult to see a situation where we would as a company share our advanced technology freely with our partners, without setting some limits,” he said.
On the other hand, he said, there may be special circumstances with Dongfeng.
“First of all, it often makes little sense to hold back in sharing technology because a partner like Dongfeng is a fast learner and can catch up relatively quickly on any technology,” the executive said.
“Secondly, our general stance is that we are willing to cooperate and help as much as possible with China’s ongoing effort to develop the country’s industrial and technological base.”
The executive said Nissan is considering building Leaf electric cars in China, but nothing has been decided.
Nissan and Dongfeng Motor Group are “talking to each other about technology transfer with the understanding that we are going to produce Leaf electric cars together in China,” the executive said.
“But we have not decided when, where and how we are going to do that.”
