Nissan has agreed to sell its electric car battery unit to Chinese renewable energy company Envision Group for an undisclosed sum. The announcement comes after Nissan canceled a potential $1 billion sale of the unit to GSR Capital last month, saying the Chinese investment company lacked the funds to make the purchase. Under the agreement, Nissan will retain a 25 percent share or equity interest in the entity newly formed by Envision. The deal, which covers battery plants in Smyrna, Tenn., and Sunderland, England, is expected to close in March. The work force at all operations covered by the deal will continue to be employed, Nissan said in a statement Friday. "The transaction will enable Nissan to concentrate on developing and producing market-leading electric vehicles -- in line with the goals set in our midterm plan," Nissan’s chief competitive officer, Yasuhiro Yamauchi, said. Lei Zhang, CEO of Envision, said in the statement the partnership will help create innovative solutions for the "IoT value chain."
Chinese vehicle imports declined 87 percent in June from a year earlier to 15,000 vehicles as automakers delayed shipments before tariff cuts on foreign-made vehicles took effect last month, according to an industry association. The data from the China Automobile Dealers Association, which was reported by local media on Monday, also showed that overall sales of imported vehicles during the first half of 2018 fell 22 percent year on year to 451,971 vehicles. The association published the June data last week and has yet to release July figures. In May, China said it would steeply cut import tariffs for foreign-made automobiles and car parts to 15 percent from 25 percent starting July 1. But in July, China raised tariffs on vehicles imported from the United States to 40 percent amid rising trade tensions with Washington. "June was the most impacted month," said Wang Cun, director of the China Automobile Dealers Association's import committee. "Many car dealers held back their import orders and decided not to import until July 1," he said.
Used-vehicle sales continued to outpace new-vehicle deliveries in China over the first six months of the year, rising 13 percent to top 6.6 million behind demand for secondhand crossovers and SUVs. Deliveries of used crossovers and SUVs surged 37 percent from a year earlier to about 552,700, according to the China Automobile Dealers Association. Used bus sales jumped 15 percent to roughly 701,100 while secondhand truck deliveries advanced 14 percent to around 590,600. In the first six months, used multipurpose vehicle deliveries rose 13 percent to 386,400 and secondhand sedan sales increased 12 percent to approach 3.9 million. The dealer group did not disclose sales of other types of used vehicles such as minibuses. In the first half, sales of new vehicles in China including trucks and buses increased 5.6 percent to nearly 14.1 million, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.