Nissan is going all in on studying the Chinese car industry textbook.
The Japanese juggernaut has admitted China’s cars are setting the standard for development and it needs to learn from them.
It’s no secret Chinese carmakers are taking over globally, including Australia.
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BYD, Chery, GWM and MG all find themselves inside the top 10 best-selling brands for 2026 Down Under.
Models such as the Chery Tiggo 4 and Jaecoo J5 small SUVs, as well as the BYD Shark 6 ute, have shot up the sales charts over the past 18 months.
China-sourced cars recently overtook Japan as the biggest sellers in the Australian market, in what was a watershed moment for the car industry.
Cheap prices and fast product development have seen one of Japan’s biggest names open up the Chinese carmaker textbook.
Nissan hopes taking a closer look at how China operates in the car industry will cultivate significantly improved development times and better leveraging of artificial intelligence.
“China is as of now setting the industry standards of the future in terms of technology, in terms of cost competitiveness and in terms of development time,” Nissan President Ivan Espinosa told Nikkei Asia.
Espinosa also said the brand’s next steps were “to learn from China and export know-how from China”.
Chinese manufacturers have cornered the market when it comes to affordable and quickly-developed new cars.
In an economic environment where cost of living is so high, cheap cars have become increasingly more desirable.
The technological innovation on these models has left China’s car industry in an even stronger position compared to legacy brands.
BYD’s Shark 6 is an example of this innovation. It fitted a plug-in hybrid set-up to a ute in a segment dominated by diesel, with the rest of the pack now attempting to replicate it.
The Shark 6 also integrates the high-voltage battery into the chassis as opposed to fitting it somewhere where it would take up cabin or storage space – another example of innovative thinking.
Nissan already has a joint-venture partnership with Dongfeng and produces the Frontier Pro plug-in hybrid ute, expected to come to Australia soon as the Navara Pro.
There is a range of other China-developed Nissan EVs that are expected to be on the cards for Australia.
Reports also suggest Nissan will invite Chery to build cars in its Wearside, England factory as it downsizes manufacturing activities.
It’s not just Nissan asking for help from China.
Mazda has partnered with Changan, which also builds Deepal vehicles sold in Australia.
Mazda is using the Chinese brand’s electric car platforms for its coming 6e and CX-6e sedan and SUV.
