The current economic meltdown has resulted in the dramatic drop off of new car sales, but at least one automaker has managed to find a silver lining. Nissan says the timing for the market collapse couldn’t have come at a better time, with the company’s green initiative lining up perfectly with government stimulus packages.
Although the market collapse has resulted in fewer sales, it has also spurred several global governments – including the United States — to offer low-cost loans. The majority of the loans offered revolve around creating new green tech, which falls perfectly in line with Nissan’s current business plan.
“The good news for us is that in seeking liquidity, governments have normally put behind that some kind of green initiative, and we’re in a perfect situation to step up to that,” Andy Palmer, senior vice president and head of product planning at Nissan , told Automotive News.
“We’ve got batteries, and we need government support… It’s kind of a perfect storm. Everything came together at the right time.”
Thanks to its recent green push, Nissan was able to secure a $1.6 billion loan from the U.S. government. The Japanese automaker will use some of that money to convert its Smyrna, Tennessee truck plant to produce a forthcoming electric vehicle while the rest will go towards building a dedicated battery plant. The two plants should give Nissan the capacity to build 150,000 electric vehicles per year. Nissan says its first retail EV will hit dealer showrooms by 2012.
