Japanese automaker Nissan is developing vehicles with self-driving technology as it works to turn around its struggling auto business.
In a recent demonstration of the technology developed by British company Wayve, a Nissan Ariya sedan outfitted with 11 cameras, five radars and a next-generation sensor called LiDAR manoeuvred its way through downtown Tokyo, braking for red lights as well as pedestrians and other cars at intersections.
It’s set to be available in 2027, although Nissan did not give the models or other details.
It’s an already-crowded field. The self-driving car market is estimated to reach USD2 trillion by 2030, according to market researcher IndustryARC, riding on the back of advances in AI, sensor technologies and data processing capabilities.
Japan’s top automaker, Toyota Motor Corp., has a partnership deal with Waymo, another self-driving technology developed by Google. Waymo has also arrived in Japan, in partnership with a cab company, but it’s still in the testing stage.
Other automakers are also working on autonomous driving technology, including Honda Motor Co., General Motors and Mercedes-Benz, as well as companies outside the auto industry like Amazon and its subsidiary Zoox.
Nissan’s push comes at a time when the overall Japanese auto market is facing serious challenges because of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Nissan especially is struggling. It has slashed jobs and appointed a new chief executive, Ivan Espinosa, to attempt a turnaround. The manufacturer of the Nissan March subcompact, Nissan Leaf electric cars and Infiniti luxury brand posted losses for the April-June period, following a fiscal year of red ink.
Meanwhile, Nissan reported a year ago on November 7 (2024) a loss for the latest fiscal quarter as its vehicle sales sank while costs and inventory ballooned, prompting the Japanese automaker to slash 9,000 jobs.
CEO Makoto Uchida said he was taking a 50% pay cut to take responsibility for the dismal results, while promising that a turnaround was coming.
Nissan Motor Corp. announced a global workforce reduction of 9,000 people, or about 6% of its more than 133,000 employees, as well as a plan to slash global production capacity by 20%.
For the latest quarter on 2024 through September, Nissan racked up a 9.3 billion yen (USDS60 million) loss, a reversal from the 190.7 billion-yen profit recorded the same quarter a year ago.
Quarterly sales fell to 2.9 trillion yen (USD19 billion) from 3.1 trillion yen.
Uchida acknowledged Nissan didn’t respond quickly or flexibly enough to global changes, including market tastes and soaring raw material costs.
