Photo: Nissan
As the traditional carmakers enter the EV market, they have to fight for resources with other EV makers. This is true even for EV pioneers like Nissan, which had to stop taking orders on their newest model, the Ariya EV. The decision was taken to avoid angering potential customers by making them wait too long.
The car industry is in production mayhem now, with parts shortages and a microchip crisis that forced even the biggest carmakers to pause production repeatedly. It’s hard to do business in this environment, but it’s even harder when you try to enter new segments. Nissan had to delay the sales launch of their latest EV, Ariya and has now instructed its U.S. dealers to stop taking preorders for their Japanese-built electric crossover.
According to Automotive News, Nissan CEO Ashwani Gupta thinks it’s better to limit orders to what can realistically be delivered on time. This is to avoid aggravating customers by making them wait too long for the delivery. Ariya deliveries were already postponed once this year and only recently started in Japan. The model should go on sale this fall in the U.S.
The U.S. retailers were allocated about 6,000 vehicles, according to one American dealer. During the latest earnings announcement, Nissan also said it had received 6,800 preorders in Japan and has already made 1,500 deliveries in its home market. Ariya is the second electric vehicle built by Nissan, which entered the EV market in 2011 with the Leaf.
“Every customer wants to have it, and we don’t want customers to wait,” Gupta said, adding that Nissan sees high demand for the model from the U.S., Japan, and Europe. “Ariya has been successfully accepted around the world. Even in the United States, we had to request our customers to stop the orders.”
Nissan builds the Ariya in its Intelligent Factory north of Tokyo, where operations were delayed because of the pandemic and the semiconductor crises. The plant project required new equipment from overseas suppliers to be installed. The travel restrictions linked to Covid made it difficult for supplier engineers to come to Japan to set up the production line. This affected the ramp-up schedule.
It’s not like having the Intelligent Factory in time for production would’ve made it easier for Nissan. Other carmakers with already established production lines face similar problems due to component shortages. As more carmakers start building more EVs, they discover that securing the raw materials and batteries is way more complex than just placing an order with their preferred supplier.
According to Automotive News, Nissan CEO Ashwani Gupta thinks it’s better to limit orders to what can realistically be delivered on time. This is to avoid aggravating customers by making them wait too long for the delivery. Ariya deliveries were already postponed once this year and only recently started in Japan. The model should go on sale this fall in the U.S.
The U.S. retailers were allocated about 6,000 vehicles, according to one American dealer. During the latest earnings announcement, Nissan also said it had received 6,800 preorders in Japan and has already made 1,500 deliveries in its home market. Ariya is the second electric vehicle built by Nissan, which entered the EV market in 2011 with the Leaf.
“Every customer wants to have it, and we don’t want customers to wait,” Gupta said, adding that Nissan sees high demand for the model from the U.S., Japan, and Europe. “Ariya has been successfully accepted around the world. Even in the United States, we had to request our customers to stop the orders.”
Nissan builds the Ariya in its Intelligent Factory north of Tokyo, where operations were delayed because of the pandemic and the semiconductor crises. The plant project required new equipment from overseas suppliers to be installed. The travel restrictions linked to Covid made it difficult for supplier engineers to come to Japan to set up the production line. This affected the ramp-up schedule.
It’s not like having the Intelligent Factory in time for production would’ve made it easier for Nissan. Other carmakers with already established production lines face similar problems due to component shortages. As more carmakers start building more EVs, they discover that securing the raw materials and batteries is way more complex than just placing an order with their preferred supplier.
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