These electric cars are more able to compete with “Tesla”

The fugitive automaker’s famous CEO Carlos Ghosn has said he believes German automakers are best placed to challenge electric car pioneer Tesla.

Ghosn spoke of Lebanon, where he currently resides after fleeing Japan following investigations into financial irregularities, and when he was the head of Nissan, specifically referring to Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen during a interview Friday with “CNBC”, which was seen by “Al-Arabiya”. .net”.

“In my opinion, it will be a German company,” Ghosn said. He added: “The Germans are the first to move quickly towards electric cars, after the criticism and ridicule of this industry in 2008.”

Ghosn, who is promoting a new book called “Broken Alliances: Inside the Rise and Fall of a Global Car Empire,” said Japanese automakers have been slow to move towards electric cars and that this would hurt them. He didn’t mention General Motors or Ford Motor, both of which invest billions in electric vehicle technology.

Volkswagen has been particularly aggressive in expanding its electric sales globally. The German automaker expects more than 70% of European sales of its Volkswagen brand to be electric cars by 2030. In the United States and China, it expects half of its sales be electric cars by then.

Regarding the recent boom in electric car startups, Ghosn said he believed many companies “will thrive as long as they work together.” None are mentioned by name, but some of the more well-known companies include Rivian and Lucid, Fisker and Lordstown Motors.

“I am very optimistic about the evolution of some startups towards electric and autonomous cars,” said Ghosn.

In contrast, Ghosn, his escape from Japan, justified his insistence on his innocence, that he “had no chance” of getting a fair trial.

He secretly fled the country on December 29, 2019 with the help of Michael Taylor and his son Peter Taylor, who were arrested by US authorities in the spring of 2020 and extradited to Japan in March.

When asked about the Taylors, Ghosn reiterated his concerns about the Japanese legal system and their high conviction rates. “I feel particularly bad for them, and for all those who go through these conditions, especially if they are foreigners,” he said.

Ghosn was initially arrested in Japan for financial misconduct and abuse of company resources in November 2018.