The Future Of Cars, By Those Who Decide It

Fuel cells? Autonomous vehicles? Brexit? We ask three big hitters to reveal the contents of their crystal balls.

- Takao Asami

> PRODUCT What’s the most important car you unveiled at Tokyo and why?

‘This is an easy question to answer – it’s the Nissan IMX concept (below), which signals our future strategy. It’s a showcase for the three pillars of Nissan’s Intelligent Mobility philosophy, as well as marking a new direction for our SUV strategy in Europe. But it’s also an indicator of the confidence we have in the maturity of the self-driving car, which by 2030 will demonstrate a significant advance towards full autonomy.’

> CORPORATE What’s your outlook for the European market, and how will your strategy mitigate against Brexit?

‘Nissan continues to work with the UK Government to ensure the company’s long-term success and investment in the UK. I repeat what I have said previously: we see there being no change in our European strategy. We anticipate that we can sell more and more EVs in Europe as a whole, but I think that it will take time for us to sell 100 per cent EVs in Europe for the sake of emissions reduction.’

> TECH Hydrogen fuel cell or pure EV – what’s the best fit for your brand?