Nissan shifts focus to hybrid vehicles

Japan’s Nissan Motor Co. introduced a sport utility vehicle (SUV) that signals a strategic shift as it races to catch up with rivals in the global market for hybrid, gasoline-electric vehicles.
The glass-roofed SUV called the Resonance is not yet scheduled for production, but it comes as the Nissan’s Leaf all-electric vehicle missed its 2012 sales target and electric cars in general have failed to live up to initial expectations.
Nissan, which is Japan’s second-largest automaker, pledged in December to offer 15 gasoline-electric hybrids by 2016, pushing to compete with Toyota Motor Corp.’s successful Prius vehicles. Nissan doesn’t sell any hybrids in the U.S. at present, and offers just four models globally.
Andy Palmer, Nissan’s executive vice president, cast the shift in strategy as “an evolution in thinking from four years ago,” when the production version of the Leaf EV debuted.
The Leaf will remain the centerpiece of Nissan’s eco-car program, he said, but the coming hybrids will round out its fuel-efficient offerings in line with customer demand.