Nissan delays launch of electric car over chip shortage
06 June, 2021
Japanese carmaker Nissan said Fri it'll delay the planned summer start of its flagship different electric Ariya model to this winter above the global chip shortage plaguing automakers.
Announced in July 2020, the new 100-percent electrical model was initially supposed to continue sale in Japan via mid-2021, before arriving in Europe, North America and China simply by the finish of the year.
But in a press release Friday, Nissan said customers found in Japan could now buy the limited-edition B6 version for "this winter," with no set date for all those in other markets.
A good Nissan spokeswoman confirmed that the semiconductor shortage affecting carmakers all over the world was hampering the rollout.
"We have been facing various industry issues, including semiconductor shortage, and our priority is normally to make sure that we deliver the highly advanced all-latest model... to clients with the highest level of quality and care," she told AFP. "And to make certain that those ideas are done, we have delayed the sales inside our area."
The model is particularly very important to Nissan, which sees it as key to opening a "new chapter" for the firm, according to its director general Makoto Uchida.
Ariya is definitely the troubled automaker's first completely electric car or truck targeting the overall car market since the Leaf debuted ten years ago.
Nissan was first struggling even prior to the pandemic, and was first rocked by the arrest and subsequent get away of its past chief Carlos Ghosn, currently a good fugitive in Lebanon.
However the coronavirus crisis only deepened its woes, pressing it deeper in to the red.
Previous month it trimmed its annual net loss, but warned its outlook remained clouded by the chip shortage.
Semiconductors are in short supply, thanks in part to increased demand because of a surge in house electronics purchases through the pandemic.
The industry in addition has been hit by several production setbacks, including a fire at a producer in Japan.
Source: japantoday.com