Η Nissan ανακοίνωσε ότι μέχρι το 2016 θα βγάλει στην αγορά 15 νέα υβριδικά αυτοκίνητα. Δεν μας είπε ασφαλώς ποια μοντέλα θα είναι αυτά, αλλά μερικά θα φορούν το νέο υβριδικό της σύστημα το οποίο αποτελείται από έναν τετρακύλινδρο 2,5-λιτρο κομπρεσοράτο κινητήρα και έναν ηλεκτροκινητήρα που τροφοδοτείται από μπαταρίες ιόντων λιθίου.
Είναι μέρος του προγράμματος NPG 2016 (Nissan Green Program 2016) και οι Ιάπωνες θέλουν να επικεντρωθούν σε βασικούς τομείς όπως η μείωση των εκπομπών CO2, στα ηλεκτρικά αυτοκίνητα και στις ανακυκλώσιμες πηγές ενέργειας.
Τα 4 βασικά σημεία του προγράμματος είναι ότι η Renault-Nissan θέλει να γίνει η νούμερο 1 σε ότι αφορά τις πωλήσεις ηλεκτρικών αυτοκινήτων έως το 2016, πουλώντας 1.5 εκατ. αυτοκίνητα. Επίσης, η Nissan θέλει να μειώσει και άλλο την κατανάλωση των αυτοκινήτων της, και σε σχέση με το 2005, θέλει να μειώσει τον μέσο όρο κατά 35%. Επιπλέον θέλει να μειώσει κατά 20% τις εκπομπές CO2 σε σχέση με το 2005 ενώ επιθυμεί να αυξήσει κατά 25% την χρήση ανακυκλώσιμων πηγών ενέργειας.
Παράλληλα η Nissan ετοίμασε και ένα video στο οποίο μας δείχνει το πως γεννήθηκε ο θρύλος του Skyline, με το πρώτο Skyline GT να παρουσιάστηκε στο Ιαπωνικό GP στη πίστα της Suzuka το 1964.
[Πηγή: Nissan]
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Nissan reports on eco-targets, unveils hybrid plans
Dec. 12 – Yokohama – Nissan gave an update on a slew of eco-targets Wednesday, highlighting cuts in CO2 emissions and a plan to add 15 hybrid models by 2016.
Chief Operating Officer Toshiyuki Shiga provided details on the company’s environmental commitments under the Nissan Green Program 2016 at a press briefing in Yokohama.
“Thanks to environmentally friendly technology and new products, we are completely in line with our targets for the reduction of C02 in the usage of vehicles, ” said Shiga.
“Other areas we’re tackling starts with manufacturing, logistics, offices and sales outlets.”
Longer term, Nissan aims to begin reducing total corporate C02 emissions in the 2020s, even as vehicle sales are projected to rise dramatically.
Also in the plan is a commitment to zero-emission leadership, minimizing the use of scarce natural resources and industry-leading fuel efficiency.
ew electric vehicles and 15 hybrids will build on an estimated 19% rise in average fuel economy since 2005 in major markets, which Nissan intends to improve even further.
“We’ve made most progress in raising fuel economy,” said Hiromi Asahi, deputy general manager of Nissan’s Environmental Planning Group.
“We’ve introduced five cars globally, including the Altima in the U.S., which have top-level fuel efficiency.”
That’s helping Nissan make each vehicle cleaner, while carbon emissions from auto production are now among the best in the industry.
Start of the Skyline Legend
December 10, 2012 – For more than half a century motor racing has drawn crowds in Japan. But for motorsports fans one grand prix stands out – the 1964 meeting at Suzuka. The Skyline GT lined up for the GT-II race during the 1964 Japan Grand Prix at Suzuka
It was the day the Skyline legend began.
The GT-II race and a team of Skyline GTs lined up. They were souped up sedans but were about to do the unthinkable – and challenge the established champions from abroad. The Skylines nearly didn’t get to the race at all. To qualify, a hundred units of the production version of the car had to have been made. Prince Motor Company , later to merge with Nissan, only just made the target.
The Skyline GT had a longer nose, and a straight six, triple-carbureted engine. It was the brainchild of the chief engineer, Shinichiro Sakurai.
Reunited with the number 39 he drove in the race back in 1964, Yoshikazu Sunako remembers that at first the modified car seemed far from perfect.
“We had extended the car by 20 centimeters. The body balance was very bad and the tires were ‘out’, so that’s why we could only drift when we turned. We slipped and drifted because the tires were bad,” said Sunako.
“But these issues actually turned out to be good for us,” he added.
After a few practice runs, Sunako knew the car was something special.
“We finished a lap in 2 minutes 47 seconds, and at that point I was proud to say this was the fastest car at Suzuka,” claimed Sunako.
The saloon model Skyline would have to be quick.
Another late addition to the field was a Porsche 904 Carrera GTS, a German car that came with a fearsome reputation.
The Skyline would not defeat the Porsche, which could hit a top speed over 250 kilometers per hour, but Sunako’s driver colleague, Tetsu Ikuzawa, would get ahead for a lap that all Japan would applaud.
“Just before the hairpin curve, Ikuzawa overtook the Porsche, so I thought, ‘Wow, he’s the man!'” recalled Sunako.
As the Skyline led the Porsche, fans at Suzuka – and around Japan – went wild.
The title ultimately went to the German car, but the Skylines had a clean sweep from second place to sixth. Sunako was in the No.2 spot – and the plucky driving of Ikuzawa had captured a nation’s imagination.
Toshiyuki Shiga is now Nissan’s Chief Operating Officer. He says that day decided his path in life.
“I was just nine years old at that time but I still remember the big news,” said Shiga.
“1964 was the moment Japanese motorization began. Nissan always led the initiative with motorsports. I was so happy. It was my dream, and I wanted to enter Nissan.”
Veteran race driver Kazuyoshi Hoshino, who himself would become a national hero at Daytona nearly 30 years later, said the Skyline also fired his imagination.
“This is the car that became a trigger for Japan motorsports and I was obsessed by it. The reason I got into motorsports was because of this 54B,” said Hoshino.
“I chose this path in life because of this and if it didn’t exist, I would have chosen another path in life.”
The Suzuka result in 1964 didn’t produce a win, but it did inspire the development of the R380 Series cars that would claim the Grand Prix over Porsche just two years later.
Sunako would be at the wheel of the 1966 Gran Prix champion.
“It was because we lost against the Porsche at that time that the R380 series was born, so it was actually a good thing that we competed against the Porsche Carrera,” said Sunako.
Such is the significance of the number 39 that a team of volunteers have put hundreds of hours into restoring it.
Working in Nissan’s Zama heritage garage where the car has been stored to make it ready to return to the scene of its greatest success, the Suzuka racetrack.
“It was a very emotional moment, it’s really a car that needs to be seen driving on a circuit. As long as it is stored in the garage at Zama, it’s as if it’s asleep, almost dead,” said Shinichi Kiga, project leader of the restoration team.
“But when it came to Suzuka, it was really radiant.”
It was the car that started the Skyline story, a legend that has continued through twelve generations of the car.
A fitting memorial to Chief Engineer Sakurai who passed away last year, leaving a legacy of innovation and excitement that endures to this day.
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