Nissan taxis set to return to HK roads
Hong Kong taxi-goers are likely to soon see the return of Nissan cabs 11 years after the carmaker was ousted by Japanese rival Toyota
Nissan model taxis - driven out of Hong Kong by rival car maker Toyota over a decade ago - may reappear on local streets by the end of the year if a bid by the exiled car maker to return to the city succeeds.
Taking a tilt at capturing a slice of a market estimated to be worth HK$7.26 billion, Nissan plans to make a comeback with its liquefied petroleum gas Cedric model - the very car ousted by Toyota when the city's 18,150 taxis were required to switch to LPG from diesel 11 years ago.
But the ultimate and bigger goal, Nissan says, is to gain a foothold in the market in the event that the city's entire taxi fleet is converted to electric-powered models.
And so it also plans to introduce around 50 Nissan Leafs - its best-selling electric vehicle - for taxi trials early next year, according to a person familiar with the plan. That would be followed by a larger trial that could involve 100 eNV200 models - Nissan's next generation of electric cars already set to be used in New York in 2014.
The move comes as officials in charge of Hong Kong's environmental policies say that now is the time to talk about conversions to the city's taxi fleet because a majority of the LPG taxis - first launched in 2001 - will be due for replacement in the next two to three years.
With this debate in mind, Nissan's chief executive Carlos Ghosn is set to meet with Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying on Wednesday to discuss his plans for electric-powered taxis.
According to some taxi operators, Nissan, and its local distributor Honest Motor, Nissan's LPG Cedric - a model now used by taxi drivers in Japan - is not only an improved version of the old model, but dealer support is aimed at minimising repair costs and ensuring efficient replacement of broken components. It was these deficiencies that saw Nissan ousted by Toyota 11 years ago.