After the sapphire-blue Nissan Versa sedan graced the debut season of the hit NBC series Heroes, another model from the Japanese automobile company is set to take center stage in the second season set to role out in Asia this month.

In season one, the Nissan Versa was used by Heroes character Hiro Nakamura, along with Ando, in his trip from Los Angeles to New York. Last fall, viewers in the United States saw the new crossover sport utility vehicle offering of the company dubbed as the Nissan Rogue. This vehicle was given to Claire Bennet, who is the cheerleader, by her father. Another blatant Nissan promotion angle in the story is that one of the characters has to work for the brand’s dealership.With the successful promotion of the Nissan models, all equipped with high-performing Nissan Parts, in Heroes, the automobile company decided to carry out the campaign and sponsor the series in Asia, where there is also a big following.

“Our promotion campaign for Season Two in the US was very successful and we wanted to extend this to Asia as part of our global brand-building activity”, said Simon Sproule, corporate vice president of Global Communications.Nissan Rogue, which shares some qualities and Nissan Parts with the Nissan X-Trail, was released in the United States last September.

Source: Brudirect

The partnership of Japanese automobile company Nissan Motor Co. and French automaker Renault, along with the software entrepreneur Shai Agassi, is aiming to produce an electric car line for the motorists of Israel that is set to come out in 2011.

Coming up with a new line of electric vehicles for Israel is one of the many steps to be taken by Nissan and Renault in order to strengthen and to widen their market across the globe. These companies will be taking care of the vehicles and auto parts (Renault and Nissan Parts) to use for the electric vehicles. Agassi’s Project Better Place, which is a company that focuses on green technology in vehicles, on the other hand, is going to manage the construction and operation of the recharging networks for the electric cars.

Why develop electric cars for Israel? According to Carlos Ghosn, who is the chief executive officer of both Nissan and Renault, Israel is a relatively small country. It only measures around 21,000 square kilometers (or 8,100 square miles). Such land size is actually similar to that of New Jersey’s.

“In Israel, where 90 percent of the people drive less than 70 kilometers a day, a car with 100-kilometer range would satisfy most of the population’s transportation needs,” said Ghosn.

At present, emerging electric cars usually costs higher than the regular automobiles, such as gasoline-powered vehicles. The Nissan-Renault CEO, however, pointed that motorists in Israel do not need to worry about the price as the cost will just be around a regular vehicle. Moreover, maintenance of the electric car is not going to be expensive, according to Nissan-Renault.

The Lithium-ion batteries, which are actually staples for laptops and mobile phones, are going to be installed for these electric cars. This NEC Corporation and Nissan-developed battery will function as the main power source of these futuristic vehicles. A total of 500, 000 recharging point will be scattered all over Israel for convenience of the owners. Supplementing the lithium-ion battery is a 1.6-liter engine. According to the companies developing the electric car, these vehicles guarantee no emissions of any sort.

“For first time, all the conditions necessary for electric vehicles to be successfully mass-marketed will be brought together in a partnership between Renault, Nissan and Project Better Place,” said Renault, Nissan, and Project Better Place.

Aside from distributing these electric cars in Israel, CEO Ghosn said that these vehicles are also set to reach other countries. For now, however, Nissan-Renault, along with Project Better Place, focuses on Israel with a target of 10,000 to 20, 000 units every year.

Source: Bloomberg.

Despite the plummeting state of the U.S. dollar, Japanese car company Nissan is putting a positive outlook that it can still manage to pull off excellent vehicle sales this year in its other booming markets that include Brazil, India, Russia, and China.

According to Toshiyuki Shiga, who is the chief operating officer of Nissan Motor Company, the dreary stock market of the United States may cause Nissan to be set aside by motorists and by the stocks.

“It is quite difficult to take an optimistic attitude toward the U.S. market,” said Toshiyuki at a news conference.

The dollar may be in its dark era, Nissan made sure that it is not that affected as it can adjust to such economic situation. In fact, raw auto parts for Nissan models are all sourced in Japan. Using only the raw materials that are manufactured locally make this automobile company, which is the third largest in Japan, protected from any fluctuation in the U.S. dollar currency. Carlos Ghosn, who is the chief executive officer of Nissan, backed this statement up by emphasizing that the inflation of the yen versus the dollar since November did not affect the company’s long-term goals.

This coming new fiscal year, the company may also be up for a decrease in demand in Japan. Such possible scenario, however, is already being offset by cutting the company’s costs.

“We are in good shape,” said Toshiyuki.

By March, which is the end of the 2007 fiscal year of Nissan, the company aims to achieve its 3.76 million Nissan units goal and its $7.5 billion (or 800 billion yen) operating earnings. Furthermore, the company is also set to produce a compact car that will go against India’s Tata Motors Limited’s Nano and is keen to launch an electric car in Israel by 2011.

For the current fiscal year ending March, the company has targeted for global sales 3.76 million vehicles, equipped with precision-engineered Nissan Parts, and operating profit of 800 billion yen ($7.5 billion).

Source: Wall Street Journal Online.

Nissan has decided to launch a direct mail campaign for its Nissan Sports Adventure range which will be developed by Tullo Marshall Warren (TMW). The creative to be used on the direct mail campaign is based on the theme of the Nissan Sports Adventure range and it will carry the tag “Inspire the adventurer in you.”

What this campaign hopes to accomplish is for customers to be encouraged to request for a brochure, get an appointment for a test drive and eventually be encouraged to buy one of the 4×4 or crossover vehicles of the Japanese automaker. These 4×4 vehicles and crossover vehicles of Nissan include the Nissan X-Trail, Nissan Navara, Pathfinder, Patrol, and QASHQAI.

The Japanese automaker is expecting that the pack will be sent to around 40,000 Nissan customers, cold prospects, and warm leads.

He above-the-line advertising for the Sports Adventure range of Nissan was the basis for the brochure and it contains a lot of ‘adventure passes.’ Among the adventure passes customers can enjoy are a ski pass or a mountain bike pass and these can be shown through the clear plastic wallet outer.

That’s not all. The initiatives also offer Nissan Sports Adventure DVD packs for free to the first 1,000 people who would test drive any vehicles from the Nissan Sports Adventure range. It also comes with a chance to enter a prize draw to win a sports adventure holiday. The prize include a safari in Uganda to touring in San Francisco. The pack also comes with an incentivised questionnaire which aims to identify the time customers will most likely buy a change for their cars through some specific trigger dates. The incentive of the questionnaire is the opportunity to enter a contest and win a year’s supply of fuel worth £2,000. But that is only if they have completed the questionnaire and returned it.

The account supervisor at TMW, Anthony Da Silva, said, “We want to inspire Nissan customers to try something new, and we believe the creative for the mailpack will encourage them to test drive one of the vehicles from the Nissan Sports Adventure range in order to make their adventures possible.”

The 2008 Nissan Rogue is one lucky small crossover vehicle. It has gone ahead with a good start and now the leading supplier of automatic-dimming rearview mirror has decided to ship its product to be used for interior rearview mirrors for the 2008 Nissan Rogue. None other than the Gentex Corporation itself made the announcement of its plan to ship its automatic-dimming rearview mirrors to the 2008 Nissan Rogue. Gentex shipping for the 2008 Nissan Rogue is beneficial to the Japanese automaker as the model is Nissan’s first entry to the small crossover SUV market and so it needs to be equipped with the high-quality Nissan parts especially since it targets the auto markets of U.S, Canada and Mexico.

Enoch Jen, the Senior Vice President of Gentex Corporation, said, “Gentex is excited to be a partner with Nissan on the automaker’s first foray into the small crossover SUV market. We look forward to continuing to build our relationship with Nissan and working with them to offer innovative products on its expanding vehicle lineup.”

The Nissan Rogue will then be available with an auto-dimming mirror with HomeLink or with both a compass display and HomeLink as part of its optional Leather Package on the AWD SL trim-level vehicles. the compass feature makes use of the proprietary Z-Nav technology of Gentex. This has a very sensitive and highly-accurate sensor which determines the vehicle’s directional heading. The automotive mirrors that Gentex Corporation provides automatically darken in response to the headlight glare of rearward-approaching vehicles. And HomeLink is Johnson Control’s fully integrated wireless control system.

Nissan wants to save fuel – that is the Japanese automaker’s long-term plan. Its strategy is to reduce the weight of all its vehicles by up to 15^th percent and by 2015, it should have accomplished its mission. This would give way for a better fuel economy and so this is Nissan’s way of winning customers.

What Nissan Motor Corporation plans to do is to increase the use of lighter materials such as plastic fiber, magnesium alloys, and aluminum for its Nissan parts. So, instead of using steel to ake its vehicles with, Executive Vice President of Nissan, Mitsuhiko Yamashita, said that it aims to use these lighter materials instead.

In US, the largest auto market, a gallon of gasoline is already selling at $3, making the cost of operation of vehicles increase. Thus, a lot of automakers, Nissan included, are producing more fuel efficient vehicles in order to combat this issue and at the same time, do not lose customers. Nissan’s plan of reducing the weight of its vehicles and eventually providing for a better fuel economy will also help it in meeting the requirements of fuel efficiency of US, Japan, and other auto markets which will eventually become more stringent.

Yamashita said, “Improving our cars’ fuel efficiency will boost our competitiveness as the price of oil surges. We want to comply with new rules before governments put them into practice.”

Also, by fiscal year 2015, Japan should have implemented its requirement for automakers to improve the fuel efficiency of their passenger cars by up to 23.5 percent. The United States has also made its move as President Goerge W. Bush has already signed a law last December that mandates a 40 percent increase in car and light-truck fuel economy by the year 2020. Thus, by that time, new models should already be able to average 35 miles per gallon of fuel.

2010 should also be the year that Nissan introduces its own gasoline-electric vehicle which will be powered by lithium-ion batteries and will be sold under the Infiniti brand.

Yamashita said, “”Infiniti has better odds.” This is because this model has the front engine and rear drive system which work well with the hybrid technology of Nissan.

Nissan has finally taken the wraps off its much-awaited Nissan GT-R racing car that’s complete with quality Nissan parts. This Nisan model intends to compete for the SUPER GT Series. It was during the Tokyo Auto Salon with NAPAC last January 11-13, 2008 that the Nissan GT-R racing car made its public debut. It will also be seen showcasing itself next on the Osaka Auto Messe 2008 which willhappen on February 9-11, 2008. The Japanese automaker sure knows the right avenues to present its racing car as these two auto shows are the country’s largest annual custom car shows.

The new works livery will be featured across the motorsports activities of the Japanese automaker during the 2008 season and this will be unveiled on the race car. Nissan wants to be a part of the SUPER GT Championship which is considered as one of the most demanding GT race series in the world. But since Nissan has built a new vehicle on the same multi-performance super car concept of the Nissan GT-R road car, Nissan believes that it might have a chance at the said championship.

The new livery is actually a result of the partnership between the design team of the Japanese automaker and NISMO, the motorsport affiliate of Nissan. Nissan also incorporated some of the feedbacks it got from the “Club NISMO” fan club.

the new Nissan GT-R racing car has the signature wide “brush stroke” design motif which is also the one used in the Nissan Fairlady Z race car. This is the design motif used because Nissan believes that the racing fans of Nissan worldwide could immediately associate with the design. The livery design swipes forward from the rear in bold red and black. The bold red color signifies the vehicle’s passion for racing. On the other hand, the black signifies the high-performance of the new Nissan GT-R racing car.

Renowned Japanese automaker Nissan is proud to announce that by 2010, it would have come up with a hybrid model of its own. The Japanese automaker’s goal for releasing a hybrid model is to provide vehicles with better acceleration but under a better fuel economy than what most hybrid vehicles offer nowadays. This information is according to he Nissan Executive Vice President of Research and Development, Mitsuhiko Yamashita.

Considering the lot of automakers offering hybrid vehicles today, Nissan is actually a late-comer when it comes to hybrid offerings. The Japanese automaker only started offering its hybrid last year, in 2007, in the form of its Nissan Altima Hybrid which makes use of the hybrid technology of Toyota Motor Corporation.

However, Yamashita assured that by 2010, Nissan Motor Corporation will be launching new hybrid models that will be equipped with its own hybrid technology. The Japanese automaker has not yet disclosed which of its model will be equipped with its own hybrid system but Yamashita did say that it will be a rear-wheel drive vehicle.

According to Yamashita, the hybrid system that Nissan will be offering will make use of more electric power in order to decrease the dependence on driving using a gas engine. While Toyota has been successful in launching and marketing its famous hybrid model, Toyota Prius, Yamashita believes that the competition is still far from being over. He said, This is just starting. We still don’t know who will be the winner eventually.”

Even though Toyota is already starting to promote the use of plug-in hybrid vehicles and General motors as well, Yamashita said that he doubts the technology of plug-in hybrids. He said that plug-ins require a lot more battery capacity which is the most expensive part of the hybrid system. He said, “Putting a more expensive battery on top of the battery … that’s not a good solution.”

Thanks to its being a reliable and well-performing vehicle, the Nissan QASHQAI has won the hearts of those in the Top Gear magazine and so recognized it as the Best SUV in their 2007 Awards issue.

However, those are not the only things that made the Nissan QASHQAI win the Best SUV Award from Top Gear magazine. Aside from quality Nissan parts equipped under its bonnet, it was more because of the sensible pricing and allowed height of visibility brought by its raised driving position. But of course, it is still a sports utility vehicle and so its performance needs to be looked at. And QASHQAI did a good thing showing its full potential. They were impressed by its 1.5 dCi engine which proved to be economical, the car for its agility and composure, the light and accurate steering, and the ride itself as the QASHQAI showed no excessive roll.

But what really caught the team of Top Gear magazine is the QASHQAI’s reassurance. They said, “The QASHQAI is your mum’s big hug outside the nursery school gates, it’s your dad palming you a tenner on your way out to the pub, it’s your girlfriend rubbing your head when you’ve been flattened by the flu. This is a car you can rely upon, that’ll take care of you, that makes you feel like the world is just that bit more manageable.”

Another thing which awed them about the QASHQAI is its classy but solid interior cabin and design, saying, “A car like this, duty bound to be aggressively bothered by children and wet dogs all its life, needs to be hard-wearing, but a modicum of luxury remains crucial. The QASHQAI really does seem to have it all covered.”

The Nissan QASHQAI can actually boast of a lot of other things that prove it to be one great sports utility vehicle. It had only been launched last March and has not reached its first year yet but already, it has outstripped sales forecast throughout Europe, garnered awards such as Euro NCAP’s five star-rating for adult occupant protection, the highest rating given to any vehicle, and now, Top Gear magazine’s Best SUV Award.

Nissan wants to be part of the growing world of hybrid vehicles and so finally decided to consider introducing hybrid car models this year that’s equipped with its Nissan parts. This is also part of the Japanese automaker’s strategy to accommodate for different market segments. This is according to local distributor Edaran Tan Chong Motor (ETCM) Sdn Bhd.

The executive director of ETCM, Datuk Ang Bon Beng, said, “This is being considered not entirely to counter oil prices, but rather to offer the right products in the right segments, where there will be sustainable profitable growth.”

The Japanese automaker had actually licensed the Hybrid Synergy Drive System of Toyota and installed it in its hybrid model last year, the Nissan Altima Hybrid. But even though that’s the case, Nissan is reportedly doing its development for its own hybrid technology and this is scheduled to be revealed in its compact car models for 2010.

But since the price of hybrid vehicles is still high being relatively new and not mass-produced, Malaysian consumers may not switch to hybrid cars yet. They will still stick to petrol models even though a barrel of oil already reached its highest cost of US$100.

However, analysts are saying that the strategy of ETCM is to cater to the consumer market that is a little price-sensitive with its option of hybrid vehicles.

Ang also said that they might export other models of Nissan to other Asean countries. They had actually already imported 136 Nissan Sentra models to Indonesia just last year.

But still, he said that exports will still depend on the Asean strategy of Nissan Motor Ltd and “so long as ETCM gets the request from Nissan, we will comply.”

Ang said, in his email reply to The Edge Financial Daily, “Current exports to ETCM’s earnings are negligible. But we are trying to grow exports in the long term, so that we can achieve greater scale and complement Nissan’s Asean ambitions.”

He also said the ETCM still plans on exporting more Nissan Sebntra’s to Indonesia but of course, it will depend on how well this model’s sales performs on the domestic market.

When asked about oil prices, Ang said that it will have some impact on vehicle sales. But because Nissan is catering to the mid to upper-income segments, Ang believes that the impact will not be grave. He said, “Coupled with the fact that we will be introducing more fuel efficient technologies, we feel there will be little or no impact.” Other factors include reduction of road tax and duties, and government fuel subsidies.

ETCM expects to launch a luxury sedan model this year.