Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn Announces Breakthrough Technologies and Partnerships

In his 2017 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) keynote, Nissan Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn announced several technologies and partnerships that will advance mobility toward a zero-emission, zero-fatality future.

“At Nissan, we do not do technology for technology’s sake. Nor do we reserve the best technologies for high-end models,” Ghosn said in his keynote. “From the beginning, we work to bring the right technologies for the full spectrum of our vehicles and the most amount of people. This takes more than innovation, it takes ingenuity. And it’s exactly what we deliver through Nissan Intelligent Mobility.

With Nissan executives on hand to demonstrate these technologies, Ghosn made five key announcements.

To accelerate the time it will take for autonomous vehicles to get on the road, Ghosn announced a breakthrough technology called “Seamless Autonomous Mobility,” or SAM. Developed from NASA technology, SAM partners in-vehicle artificial intelligence (AI) with human support to help autonomous vehicles make decisions in unpredictable situations and build the knowledge of in-vehicle AI. This technology will enable millions of driverless cars to co-exist with human drivers in an accelerated timeline. It is part of Nissan Intelligent Integration.

• Taking the carmaker’s autonomous drive strategy another step further, Ghosn announced that, for the first time, Nissan will begin tests in Japan this year targeting the development of driverless vehicles for commercial uses. Working alongside the leading Japanese internet company DeNA, Nissan will first focus tests to perfect the driverless technology in National Strategic Special Zones in Japan. By 2020, the scope of the tests will expand to include the commercial usage of technology for mobility services in the Tokyo Metropolitan area.

• In addition to advancements in Nissan’s autonomous driving strategy, Ghosn also announced plans to build on Nissan’s leadership in electric vehicles, with more than 250,000 Nissan LEAFs sold worldwide since 2010. Ghosn said the new LEAF is coming in the near future, the next chapter of Nissan Intelligent Power. The next model of the world’s best-selling EV will also be equipped with ProPILOT technology, Nissan’s autonomous drive functionality for single-lane highway driving.

• On connected cars, which combines Nissan Intelligent Driving and Nissan Intelligent Integration, Ghosn announced the Renault-Nissan Alliance is continuing its partnership with Microsoft to build the next generation of connected car technologies. Alliance SVP of Connected Vehicles and Mobility Services, Ogi Redzic, demonstrated how Microsoft’s personal assistant technology Cortana can make driving more productive and seamless. Cortana is one of the technologies the Alliance and Microsoft are exploring together.

• To support the policy environment and planning needed to integrate these technologies into the world’s cities, Ghosn announced a new partnership with 100 Resilient Cities -- Pioneered by The Rockefeller Foundation (100RC), a global non-profit working to help cities build resilience to physical, social, and economic challenges. Together, Nissan and 100RC will help cities lay the groundwork for the autonomous drive, electric vehicles, and new mobility services.  Nissan is 100RC’s first automotive platform partner.

“We invite others to join us, as well, from tech partners to e-commerce companies, ride-hailing and car-sharing platforms, and social entrepreneurs who can help us to test and develop new vehicles and services, and make sure everyone has access to the latest technologies and services that bring value to their lives,” said Ghosn.