The EV won’t be known as the Nissan Leaf in China, but will be rebadged as the Venucia e30, Nissan’s Chinese JV partner Dongfeng announced. The e30 will be built at Dongfeng Nissan’s Huadu plant in Guangdong, a southern province. Local assembly means that the Venucia-badged Leaf will qualify for a government subsidy of 57,000 yuan (RM29,212) for electric cars.
EV pilot programmes have already started in Guangzhou, Xiangyang and Dalian, with a total of 300 of the electric vehicles recording a total mileage of one million kilometres since December 2013.
Nissans rebadged as Venucias in China is nothing new. The Leaf follows the path taken by the Nissan March (Venucia R30), and Nissan Latio (Venucia R50), among other models. The sub-brand is named after the Roman goddess Venus.
