The Nissan Ariya is Nissan's most anticipated vehicle of the year. The brand's first all-electric SUV was supposed to debut in Japan in the middle of this year, but Covid-19 and the global chip shortage changed the automaker’s plans. And so the model's debut has been pushed back to winter.
This was announced today by Asako Hoshino, executive vice president at Nissan.
"Sales in North America and Europe are expected to begin two months later," she said. The executive added that she expects the model to sell a few tens of thousands in its first year on the market, with the strongest demand so far coming from Europe.
"I think Europe will contribute significantly to the overall sales of the model," said Hoshino, when asked about the importance of the model to the automaker.
The Ariya is Nissan's first new electric vehicle in nearly a decade, following the LEAF, of course, which emerged as the best-selling electric vehicle worldwide before being overtaken by the Tesla Model 3 in 2020.
The electric SUV will also be sold in China, but no specific timetable has yet been given for this.
Considering the postponement and the mention of early winter for the model's arrival on the Japanese market, we should now expect to see the Ariya arrive somewhere in 2022.
See also: World Premiere of the 2022 Nissan Ariya Electric Crossover