Nissan is unveiling not just new cars but a new mantra for its future products at the Geneva Motor Show.
Intelligent Mobility is described as a vision pushing towards a safer and more sustainable future, and builds on Nissan’s extensive experience in electric powertrains and intelligence in vehicles.
The brand is pursuing twin aims of zero emissions and zero road fatalities and says that Intelligent Mobility will guide its future product range. Decisions on powertrains, how cars are driven and the role they play in society will all be made based on the programme, while making driving more enjoyable will still be a central part of future decisions.
According to Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn, Intelligent Mobility is a framework to move customers around the world towards a safer and more sustainable future.
“To realise this vision, Nissan has launched a long-term strategy, supported by significant R&D investments – this enabled Nissan to introduce the breakthrough LEAF, the world’s first mass production EV, in 2010, years before any of our competitors.,” Ghosn says.
“It has also driven our development of cutting-edge autonomous drive technologies, which will be available in a range of mass production models by 2020 – these steps are allowing Nissan to deliver the benefits of EV and autonomous drive innovations to as many customers as possible and, ultimately, to lead the way toward a new era of mobility.”
The three cores of the programme are Intelligent Driving – creating more driver confidence led by autonomous drive technology, Intelligent Power – adding more efficiency and more power, spearheaded by electric vehicles, and Intelligent Integration – offering new links between vehicles and the society in which they operate.
Vehicles on show in Geneva demonstrating the technology include the IDS Concept, making its European debut after being first unveiled at the Tokyo show in October 2015. This car – the IDS stands for Intelligent Driving System – boasts a complex system of sensors and artificial intelligence.
Also on display is an autonomous version of the mass-selling Qashqai SUV. Nissan will demonstrate the system on European roads later this year – the car able to drive in heavy traffic without driver input – and launch production versions in 2017, stating that the Qashqai will become the first Piloted Drive vehicle available in Europe.
