Ghosn says Nissan-Renault to target China with $8,000 electric car

LISBON – The Nissan-Renault alliance aims to offer Chinese drivers a new electric car costing just $8,000 within two years, chief executive Carlos Ghosn said Tuesday as he touted an "explosion" in demand amid efforts to offset climate change. The electric auto market as a whole is stepping up a gear thanks to cheaper batteries, government incentives to consumers and better infrastructure for charging vehicles on the go, he said at the Web Summit in Lisbon. "For me, it is a no-brainer: electric cars are going to be a much bigger part of our industry in the future," Ghosn told AFP in an interview. Nissan was a groundbreaker in mass-marketing electric vehicles from 2008 and counts the popular Leaf in its fleet. But that higher-priced model does not compete against cheaper offerings from rival manufacturers such as BYD, Zhidou and SAIC in China, which is now the world's biggest auto market and also one of its worst polluters.