Ariya still on Nissan Australia's wish list

NISSAN Australia is yet to confirm launch timing for its much-anticipated Ariya electric crossover SUV, which has been on sale in some other markets since mid-2022.

The all-electric SUV – which would form an important pillar of the brand’s local line-up alongside the Leaf hatchback and the more popular petrol-powered X-Trail - has been confirmed to be coming to our market, but at the launch of the new Qashqai e-Power model, the brand still wouldn’t say when Ariya will arrive.

At the event, Adam Paterson, Nissan Oceania managing director, outlined the brand’s responses to the proposed New Vehicle Emissions Scheme to be implemented by the federal government, which would potentially see vehicles like the Ariya EV gain credits to offset the emissions of other ICE-powered models in the brand’s ranks.

“Nissan is fully supportive of a clear federal mandate, and we applaud the government for moving in this direction and giving us the opportunity as a manufacturer to provide input into how they go about legislating this scheme,” said Mr Paterson of the proposed NVES.

However, he declined to comment on what could be a crucial range addition in light of the electrification scheme.

Emily Fadeyev, Nissan Australia general manager of corporate communications, pointed out that while the Ariya has been confirmed to be making its way to our shores, there’s still nothing the brand can share about when that might be.

“Ariya will come, but we don’t have an update on timing,” she said.

When asked specifically about it arriving in 2024, Ms Fadeyev replied: “We don’t have an update on timing.”

The segment the Ariya plays in is one of the most highly represented in the electric vehicle space, with a number of mid-size SUVs currently available in the same space that the Ariya will eventually play.

Those rivals include the bulk-selling Tesla Model Y (from $65,400 +ORCs), recently launched Toyota bZ4X (from $66,000 +ORCs) and the mechanically related Subaru Solterra (from $69,990 +ORCs), not to mention the Kia EV6 (from $72,590 +ORCs) and Hyundai Ioniq 5 (from $65,000 +ORCs).

In just the past week in the United States, Nissan has taken the knife to the asking price of its Ariya electric SUV, with reductions of between $US3600 and $US6000 ($A5485 to $A9141).

Price cuts are becoming something of a regular occurrence in EV land, as early adopters have already bought cars and brands realise that customers may not be as eager to pay big bucks for a competitor EV.

The Ford Mustang Mach-E, for example, saw reductions of up to $7000 off the retail price in Australia in the period between its media launch and on-sale date.

Subaru also cut prices of the Solterra AWD electric SUV by between $6700 and $8000 in the weeks leading up to that model’s local media drive event.

Tesla hasn’t been isolated from these price adjustments either, with periodic changes to its pricing across the Model Y and Model 3 lines.

Electric SUV sales are dominated by the aforementioned Model Y, which currently commands a 33 per cent market share in its segment, which includes ICE-powered models.

The brand has shifted 2456 examples to the end of February 2024, with the next-best ranked SUV in that segment being the Lexus NX, with 932 examples sold.

Meanwhile, Nissan has just had its best X-Trail month of all time, with a huge 2508 registrations of the ICE and e-Power hybrid model in February.