Nissan's Ariya electric SUV has only just arrived in Australia three years after its global launch – and the company claims that's on purpose.
Nissan Australia has scoffed at suggestions it has been late to launch the Ariya electric SUV, despite the vehicle arriving in local showrooms in recent weeks, three years behind other global markets.
The Japanese car giant instead claims Australia has not been ready for the Ariya until now, and that an earlier introduction may have hindered sales of what is Nissan's second electric car, behind only the Leaf hatch launched globally in 2010 and locally in 2012.
Nissan Australia managing director Andrew Humberstone fielded plenty of questions surrounding the timing of the Ariya into local dealerships at the vehicle's media launch in Melbourne last week.
But when asked directly by Drive if it had arrived too late, he batted away the question with an emphatic, “It didn’t.”
“For me, it’s about when is the market ready for a product? It’s not about ‘here’s a product; shove it on the market’.
“This market and the consumer [were] not ready for this car three years ago. And given the volatility of what we've seen with regulations between New Zealand and Australia, it would have absolutely been to our detriment to have brought it earlier.
“So for us, it was really around managing the timing, and also managing availability of product and also managing pricing of product and really understanding the Australian consumer and their readiness for the product.
“We could have brought this car three years ago, and could have brought it two years ago, we could have brought it last year, yeah? To what end? You bring a product to a market at the right time to optimise on its success.”
The Nissan Ariya launched in Australia last week, with four variants priced from $55,840 before on-road costs – within $1000 of the most-affordable BYD Sealion 7 (from $54,990) and $3060 under the cheapest Tesla Model Y ($58,900).
The Ariya’s entry point also positions it a smidge above the Skoda Elroq (from $54,990), but well under rivals like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 (from $68,800) and Toyota bZ4X (from $66,000), and a shade under the Kia EV5 (from $56,770).
Newcomer brands present more of a challenge to Nissan, with new models like the Deepal S07 (from $53,900), and Leapmotor C10 (from $43,888) both undercutting the Ariya.
The entry-level Engage ($55,840) and second-from-bottom Advance ($59,840) variants are powered by a single 160kW/300Nm electric motor driving the front wheels. A 63kWh battery is claimed to deliver 385km driving range, based on WLTP testing protocols.
The next variant in the range, the $63,840 before on-road costs Ariya Advance+, ups the ante with a single 178kW/300Nm electric motor driving the front wheels. A larger 87kWh battery offers a claimed 504km of range, a significant step up over the models below it on the ladder.
Sitting atop the Ariya line-up is the flagship Evolve e-4orce, priced from $71,840. It adds another electric motor for all-wheel drive and a claimed 5.6-second 0-100km/h sprint.
Each electric motor – one at each axle – produces 160kW, while combined torque reaches 600Nm, while the Evolve’s 87kWh battery delivers a claimed 487km range, based on WLTP testing.
Humberstone refused to be drawn on sales targets and on which brands in the electric SUV market Nissan Australia is targeting with the Ariya. But he remained optimistic the Ariya could “stand on its own two feet”.
“We know the segment well. There's some strong players in that segment,” he said. “The segment is great.
“Year on year, I think it's up almost 100 per cent. So it's rapidly growing. So I think there’s space in the segment, therefore, the time is right.
“But I think we've got a very good car and a very good price. So… we're quietly optimistic we can stand on our own two feet in that space.”
When pressed on his sales expectations, Humberstone offered “there’s no point [bringing] a new car to sell a few hundred cars a year.
“We don't talk about volumes per se, but what we're looking at is… the idea is not around bringing a car for the sake of bringing a car. The idea is that we see a growth opportunity, therefore we want to be in that space, to grow with that segment.
“So it's not about today's volume. It's about offering something to the market, to a consumer, in a growing segment where we know we're going to expand and expand and grow and grow and grow, even from our own product portfolio point of view.
“So I'm not overly concerned about volume today. But we do, of course, expect, given where we're priced, and given the size of that market, we expect to have a decent market share within that, a respectable market share.”
Rob Margeit is an award-winning Australian motoring journalist and editor who has been writing about cars and motorsport for over 25 years. A former editor of Australian Auto Action, Rob’s work has also appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Wheels, Motor Magazine, Street Machine and Top Gear Australia. Rob’s current rides include a 1996 Mercedes-Benz E-Class and a 2000 Honda HR-V Sport.
