00:00Let's turn to Autos, Nissan, unveiling its vision for an AI-defined vehicle,
00:04announcing plans to use cutting-edge software to shrink development times
00:07and fast-track autonomous driving technology across 90% of its lineup.
00:12Joining us now is the Nissan President and CEO, Ivan Espinosa.
00:15Ivan, good to see you, sir. Thanks for being us.
00:17Good morning, thank you.
00:17We're with us here in New York.
00:18One question, okay, and then we're going to move on quickly, I promise.
00:21How many cars have you sold in Seabreeze Blue Pearl in the last few months
00:25since a well-known manufacturer came out with a very expensive car
00:29in what looked like Seabreeze Blue Pearl?
00:31Well, it was a surprise for us to see this car coming out
00:34because it's coincidentally the same color, like emblematic color,
00:39that we used for our launch of the Nissan Leaf.
00:41So it was an interesting surprise, I would say.
00:43I'll move on quickly for you so we don't have to talk about it too much.
00:46Let's talk about the new cars.
00:47Can you describe for our audience the future of driving and what it's going to look like?
00:52Because if you think about what it's been like for the last century,
00:54it really hasn't changed too much.
00:56Four wheels, a driver, a wheel.
00:59You know, that's how it works.
01:00It gets better, technology improves, but we haven't seen massive changes.
01:04How different is it going to be in the future?
01:06Well, the experience is going to completely evolve.
01:07So we're working a lot with AI technology to bring the cars into a full autonomous end-to-end experience
01:13where you simply sit in the car behind the wheel, the car will take over for you.
01:17Let's say, you know, I'm living in Japan, so let's say you go and play golf on the weekend.
01:21Again, if you enjoy driving, maybe you enjoy driving in the morning towards the golf course.
01:26You drive by yourself.
01:27But then on the way back, there's usually a lot of traffic.
01:29So you will just ask the car to drive for yourself, engage the autonomous mode,
01:33and then you can just either relax, check your news.
01:36There's a lot of things that you can do with people's time while they're sitting in the cabin
01:40because we have two massive screens in front of them.
01:43And then we can feed a lot of information.
01:44We can make their lives more productive, entertainment.
01:48There's a lot of things that we are imagining for the future.
01:51In development times, you're an interesting piece of this as well.
01:53I'd love to breathe some life into that conversation.
01:55If you're in a car lot right now and you're trying to sell individual cars,
02:00it's a dream if you work for a manufacturer that can cut lead times for development
02:04and bring new cars to market.
02:05It helps them sell.
02:06Right.
02:07It helps them sell.
02:08That's what a lot of companies are looking for.
02:10How's this going to change too?
02:11Well, we have evolved a lot.
02:13You know, in the past 18 months, we have shortened our development process by around 40%.
02:16So now we are able to put new cars on the road in 30 months from the concept moment all
02:22the way to the start of production.
02:2430 months for a global development car.
02:26So this is the speed that Nissan has now.
02:29And it's helping us adjust a lot our, you know, launching schedules.
02:33And it's the future because the world is so unpredictable these days.
02:37We used to be a company that put a lot of energy forecasting and trying to predict what will happen
02:42in the future.
02:43But this is impossible now.
02:45You know, with all the geopolitics and play and the context in which we live, it's very complicated.
02:49So we decided to put our energy just on being a nimbler and quicker company because this is a way
02:55to cope with the uncertainty of the world.
02:56And as I said, we have reduced our development times now at 40%.
03:00It does seem like these two things are at odds, right?
03:02On one hand, you've got the technological advancement that can speed things up.
03:05And then you've got policy that's just completely all over the place when it comes to things like autonomous driving
03:10and how you even test it.
03:11I mean, where do you think you're going to see the acceleration of autonomous driving in Nissan's market the fastest
03:17just based on what you're allowed to test and what you're allowed to roll out?
03:20Well, I think we need to go step by step.
03:23That technology today is actually ready.
03:25You can with the technology that we are working today with our partner, Wave.
03:29Actually, it's almost level four ready.
03:31So it means a completely driverless car.
03:35But we need to go step by step, not only because of the regulators, but also because of the consumers.
03:39We don't want the consumers to, you know, suddenly be averse of the technology.
03:44We need to do it one step at a time.
03:45And we will gradually introduce this technology.
03:47We're starting with our products in Japan.
03:50We will have a first end-to-end capable car, which is called El Grand.
03:55We will launch at the end of next fiscal year 27.
03:57And then we will gradually roll out this technology all over the world.
04:00We want to have the technology applied in as much as 90% of our lineup.
04:05So the technology is really promising, super exciting, and it's the future of the automobile.
04:10There also have been all of these international moats that have been created, particularly with the auto sector.
04:16In the United States, how much do you see the weaker yen as an offset to that,
04:21given the fact that maybe you could even offer a cheaper price or, you know,
04:24have some sort of ability to maneuver on that competitive angle?
04:28Well, actually, the world, again, as I was saying, is very unpredictable.
04:32So you need to hedge your bets and you need to remain flexible.
04:35And this is what we're doing.
04:36Our industrial footprint, one of the beauties that it has,
04:39is that we are so widely spread around the world that we have the ability to pivot,
04:43depending on what happens with one thing is a forex exchange,
04:47but you have other things like policy, like new rules, emissions.
04:51There are so many things happening all over the place that you need to remain very nimble
04:55and, you know, very widely spread and play a good strategy.
04:58But specifically to Lisa's point, with, you know, the strengthening of the dollar,
05:02the weakening of the yen, are you going to, at this moment,
05:05change any of your plans to capitalize on that?
05:08No, we will continue the strategy that we have set in the U.S.,
05:11which is building cars in the U.S.
05:13We have two very large manufacturing sites, one in Sperna, Tennessee,
05:17the other in Canada, Mississippi.
05:19And we will continue doing that.
05:21So to give you some numbers, last year, January, around 45% of our product mix was built in the
05:27U.S.
05:28The rest was imported from either Japan or Mexico.
05:31And we closed the year with 60% of our product mix being built in the U.S.
05:36And we will continue doing that because it makes sense.
05:38With the current context in which we're living,
05:42it does make sense to continue investing in the U.S.
05:44and continue bringing more cars into North America.
05:46Given the current tariff environment,
05:48I believe for every auto produced in Mexico, it's about $2,000 or $3,000 more.
05:52What are you doing with that?
05:53How much is being passed on to the consumer?
05:55And how much are you just absorbing?
05:57Well, we have a very aggressive cost reduction program,
06:00which we started, you know, a year ago when I took over the company.
06:04And we are focusing a lot on the products that are built in Mexico
06:07because they are cost competitive, but it's true.
06:10They are currently tariff 25%,
06:12which is making part of the lineup that we're bringing from Mexico difficult to sell.
06:16So we have a very strong cost reduction program on those vehicles
06:20because we do see an opportunity.
06:22You know, looking at the pressure that the U.S. market has today in terms of affordability,
06:26we see that potentially some of the buyers could be moving into this type of vehicle.
06:32So we are working very strongly on making them more competitive,
06:35so we can probably take advantage of that if you can.
06:37Ivan, can we wrap it up by talking about China?
06:39Sure.
06:39How difficult is it to compete with Chinese auto manufacturers?
06:43Well, China is a world of its own, I would say.
06:46It's a very unique ecosystem.
06:48What makes it unique?
06:49I think the technology speed costs are,
06:52they're moving at a very different speed than the rest of the world.
06:55And for me, it's important to remain present in China
06:58because I believe a lot of the future standards of the industry
07:01are being set by some of the Chinese players today.
07:05Again, in terms of speed, in terms of costs, and in terms of technology.
07:09So for me, the role of China is twofold.
07:12One is, of course, continuing to produce and sell cars in China
07:16because we have over 15 million users of Nissan products in that country.
07:23So we owe them product that is competitive and that is attractive for them.
07:27But at the same time, it's a place where you can learn a lot
07:30and you can start exporting some of the methods,
07:33some of the processes and new ways of working that we have discovered.
07:36Just as an example, what can we learn from what they've done?
07:39An industry right now that they seem to be dominating.
07:42Well, one of the things is when you look at the products in China today,
07:46almost 80% of the products that are offered have autonomous technology embedded.
07:50And customers are now not considering to buy a car
07:53if you don't offer some level of autonomous technology.
07:56So this is just an example of what can happen
07:58and what we can imagine coming out from this unique ecosystem that they have.
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