Carlos Ghosn, CEO of both Nissan and French carmaker Renault, gave the keynote address to kick off the show’s media days. After nodding to the severe financial pressures facing all carmakers in the current market slowdown, he reiterated Nissan’s plans to offer an electric vehicle in the US and Japan in 2010 for commercial customers and large fleets, with showroom sales to consumers in 2012. Ghosn envisions as many as seven million pure electric vehicles being sold around the world by 2020.
U.S. auto journalists got their first “ride and drive” of the efficient and quirky Mini Cooper Clubman at a press launch in Monterey, California on Tuesday.
