► We speak to Nissan’s chief planning officer‘Being a product planner today is probably the most difficult job in the company,’ Ivan Espinosa, chief planning officer for Nissan tells me on the final day of the Formula E championship.
For decades, those in the job enjoyed what now look like relatively calm seas, with incrementally improved combustion technology, predictable emissions laws and a more stable geopolitical backdrop. Now all three are erratic, fast-moving targets: there’s a battery technology breakthrough seemingly every six months, governments U-turn on emissions laws on a whim, and the news is filled with conflict every day.but there’s talk of Keir Starmer’s new government moving it back.
Mercedes and Toyota are back to developing combustion engines after previously signalling a turn towards electrification in its various forms. Mercedes has also dropped the electric EQC from UK showrooms. , Nissan is being more cautious on its path to, ultimately, an all-electric future. ‘We’re taking a balanced approach because the speed at which the market is electrifying is varying depending on the region,’ says Espinosa. ‘But of course, the final goal is electrification.’