Important Innovations

  Nissan's  Sales Innovation in Face of Pandemic                                                       Source:  Nissan "Complete, End to End Digital Journey" to the Purchase COVID-19 has radically changed the world and global commerce.  Here's a new example.  Because of the pandemic, global auto customers are shying away from car showrooms.  Nissan is on to a new digital approach.  What the company is calling "a complete, end to end digital journey" to  buying your next Nissan car. Nissan COO Ashwari Gupta's Digital System The Chief Operating Officer of Nissan Ashwari Gupta was tasked by a senior Nissan Board member to determine how to sell cars to customers in a COVID weary world.  Gupta came up with a digital journey.  The journey starts with the customer researching cars on line. Car models come to the customer's house for a test drive.  Purchase agreements are finalized with no trips at all to the dealership.  It is socially distanced, online car

Nissan Leaf Drives Autonomously & Electric for 230 miles in UK Source:  Nissan Leaf Add Autonomous, Electric Vehicle Electric, Self-Drive Sets UK Record Nissan has made autonomous driving history.  An electric Nissan Leaf has just completed 230 miles autonomously across the UK.  That makes the record books for autonomous driving in the UK. The car encountered all types of road conditions.  The drive was far from a straight shot.  It safely drove on expressways, roundabouts and on poorly marked roads. It did so without any human intervention and emissions free. Loaded with Technology The test car is equipped with advanced autonomous technology. The electric Nissan Leaf was fitted with GPS, radar, LIDAR, laser scanners and laser cameras to perceive the vehicles and roadway around it and make safe decisions. Project "HumanDrive" The Nissan HumanDrive project was designed to show what autonomous vehicles can achieve, promote autonomous mobility a

3 Global Automakers Tie-Up on Electric R&D Source:  Nissan Electric Vehicle LA Auto Show Showcases New EVs Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi just announced that they're intensifying their R&D alliance to develop advanced auto technology.  At the top of the list is a common platform for electric cars across the three brands.  Nissan's new CEO Makoto Uchida said today that the R&D alliance is the key to future growth.  They're setting up a separate company and will appoint a General Secretary to run the R&D innovation operation.  Nissan also announced that it's going to launch an all-electric SUV. LA Auto Show Electrified Meanwhile in Los Angeles, the annual LA Auto Show is underway and a number of new electric vehicles are being showcased. The big story is the number of high-end electric SUVs on display. Examples include the Audi E-Tron, Jaguar I-Pace, Mercedes EQC.  There are also several electric hyper-cars including the BMWi8 and the Acura

Protecting Connected Vehicles from Hackers Source:  Upstream Israel's Upstream Security Secures Millions in Funding Israel's Upstream Security has secured $30 million in funding to develop software to protect connected and autonomous vehicles from cyberattacks by hackers.  The funding is coming from automakers like Renault, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Hyundai and Volvo Truck, Nationwide Mutual Insurance and venture capital firms. Upstream takes a cloud based automotive cybersecurity approach using data analytics and machine learning algorithms.  The company was established in 2017 and has received a total of $41 million in funding. New Software Market with Exponential Growth The market demand for software to protect against automotive cyberattacks is expected to reach $2.3 billion by 2025. The exponential growth is being driven by the fact that the more connectivity included in vehicles, the more vulnerable they are to hackers.  Cyber carjacking has been an issue since 2015