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Nissan has been testing a Leaf geared up with a self-driving system known as Easy Ride developed with IT agency DeNA
The motor trade is heading at velocity in the direction of a technological revolution. Electrification and automation are the brand new buzzwords. So can outdated-usual car firms survive?
That's a query one of many trade's strongest figures is eager to reply.
Carlos Ghosn is the chairman and chief govt of the Alliance, a carmaking large made up of Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi. It builds greater than 10 million autos a 12 months.
This week, on a UK go to, I requested him how a lot of a problem the longer term presents to conventional car makers.
Change is actually coming. Faced with ever-stricter environmental guidelines and beneath intense stress from politicians, producers are eventually investing closely in electrical vehicles.
They are additionally working exhausting on automation. True "self-driving" vehicles should still be a good distance off, however more and more complicated driver-help techniques are already coming available on the market.
Meanwhile robotic-taxis, which may drive themselves in comparatively small, "geo-fenced" areas, are being examined in cities all over the world.
Then there's the impact of the web. Cars have gotten increasingly "connected" and lots of now let drivers unlock and begin their autos from their smartphone. They even have entry to a huge array of data and entertainments techniques.
Soon, it is going to be commonplace for vehicles to be repaired or up to date remotely by way of a software program replace.
Cars are quick changing into not simply mechanical units however subtle 4-wheeled computer systems.
So can conventional carmakers adapt, or will they be casualties of change, swept apart by tech-savvy interlopers from Silicon Valley?
"Some old-fashioned car companies will not be able to adapt, without any doubt," says Mr Ghosn.
"But not all car companies are old-fashioned, and not all will be unable to cope."
The Alliance does seem like in a good place. Nissan already produces the Leaf, the world's finest-promoting electrical car, whereas Renault makes the Zoe, one other comparatively inexpensive EV.
"We're investing a lot," says Mr Ghosn. "We were the first company to offer mass market electric cars. Today we are the biggest seller and producer of electric cars."
Given the issues Tesla has skilled trying to develop into a mass market producer, that appears like a respectable place to be in.
Autonomy is a completely different matter, nonetheless. Along with different carmakers, the Alliance is engaged on self-driving expertise.
But the hub of self-driving analysis is certainly Silicon Valley, and it's expertise corporationsjust like the Google-owned Waymowhich have a head begin.
"For autonomous cars, the race is onthis is a technology race," says Mr Ghosn. "I think this is going to transform the industry."
But that does not essentially imply the normal carmakers will lose out. Instead, he suggests they'll staff up with the newcomers.
"I don't think there is a threat to the car industry, because the car industry is embracing the changes", he says.
"And it's not embracing the changes by just focusing on itself. It's embracing them by opening up to the tech companies, to start-ups, to partners, in order to make the changes in the most effective way possible."
The Alliance already has a presence in Silicon Valley. Its analysis centre in Sunnyvale was arrange in 2013 with the intention of tapping into the experience of the areaand establishing partnerships with universities, laboratories and begin-ups.
So Mr Ghosn says he's "not pessimistic".
"Obviously, for those who ignore the change, or avoid the change, it's going to be terrible," he provides.
"For those who embrace it, obviously it's going to require a lot of effort, a lot of investment. But it could give them more opportunities for growth than we've ever had in the past."
Nevertheless, one space of change does appear to threaten the very foundations of the trade.
The transfer in the direction of shared-use autos is gathering momentum. Ride hailing apps corresponding to Uber and Lyft have already confirmed very fashionable, as have quick-time period car rental schemes.
Some specialists consider that the event of automated taxis will speed up this course of, and that the times of non-public car possession are numbered, no less than in cities.
That would clearly threaten car producers, as a result of the marketplace for new vehicles would shrink. But it's an concept that the boss of Nissan and Renault provides quick shrift.
"I don't believe in this. In China you still have one car for five people, in Indonesia it's one car for 50 people, in India one car for 20 people. So we are far from saturated in terms of ownership of cars."
Meanwhile, he says, constructing techniques designed for the sharing financial system will present new avenues for development.
"Ownership of cars will continue. Maybe it'll be limited in mature markets to the benefit of shared mobility services. But we're going to be involved in both sides."