Despite the incredible adoption rate of all-electric vehicles like the Nissan Leaf and Tesla Model S, makers of smaller EVs like the Smart Electric Drive and recently-updated Mitsubishi iMiEV are facing weak demand – which has led some people within Renault-Nissan to rethink the company’s strategy in re: an electric Renault Twingo.
“We’re not in a situation where the market has followed our forecasts,” Chief Performance Officer for Renault, Jerome Stoll said in an interview with Automotive News. “People haven’t yet reached the point where they feel the need to have an electric vehicle for full daily use. People need to feel that need to shift to electric models.”
That’s bad news for a company that wants to put more than 1.5 million EVs on the world’s roads by 2020. It’s also bad news forMercedes’ Smart brand and Mitsubishi, who are both planning to field their own versions of the recently-revealed Renault Twingo / upcoming Nissan Micra model.
Still, it’s not all bad news. Renault delivered more than 19,000 electric cars last year, on top of Nissan’s own strong Leaf sales, out of a total of 2.6 million Renault-branded cars and light commercial vehicles. The company, then, is still on track for its 2020 goal, even without the electric subcompacts. As for Smart and Mitsubishi, it looks like their dealers are giving them a different story, since they seem committed to developing their EVs.
We’ll have more on the next iMiEV and Smart Electric Drive models, of course, as the news develops. Stay tuned!
Source | Photos: Renault, via Automotive News, Europe.
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