The Nissan Ariya will have blown well past being ‘fashionably late’ when it finally arrives here next year, but the Japanese carmaker doesn’t see the delay as an issue.
“Start of sale for Ariya is the second half of 2025,” Nissan Oceania managing director Andrew Humberstone told Australian media.
“We will have a comprehensive lineup including different specifications and battery sizes available for customers.”
The Ariya was revealed in July 2020, entered production in October 2021 and went on sale in markets like Japan the following year, which means we will have been waiting around three years by the time it finally comes here.
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“I think we’ve been smart with the timing,” Mr Humberstone told CarExpert.
“Or else we would have had to respond to the market conditions and our pricing would have been catastrophic. I think we’ve read that one well.
“Why would I want to tarnish it? I think we’ve been very fortunate with the timing in this market.”
“Disruptive” price cuts by Tesla with its Model Y, Australia’s best-selling EV, were followed by Ford cutting the price of its rival Mustang Mach-E. This was just one of many price cuts recently dished out across the sub-$100,000 EV market.
It’s unclear how many configurations Nissan Australia will offer the Ariya in.
Globally, the mid-sized electric SUV is available with single-motor front-wheel drive and dual-motor e-4ORCE all-wheel drive drivetrains, as well as a choice of two battery pack options with respective usable capacities of 63kWh and 87kWh.
System outputs for FWD models with the smaller-capacity battery are 160kW and 300Nm, while FWD Ariyas with the larger battery see power bumped up to 178kW.
The dual-motor AWD system features a combined output of 250kW/560Nm (65kWh) or 290kW/600Nm (90kWh), with the latter offering a claimed 5.1-second 0-100km/h time.
Ariya Nismo
Nissan also revealed a sporty all-wheel drive Nismo version of the Ariya earlier this year, producing 270kW/560Nm with the smaller of the two batteries and 320kW and 600Nm with the larger one.
The company has previously blamed strong demand in other markets as one of the reasons for the Ariya’s delayed local launch, as well as the need to prioritise markets with stricter emissions regulations.
Nissan has also been vocal about wanting reforms for Australian Design Rules (ADRs) and the Government’s approval process for new vehicles, arguing it takes far too long for a vehicle to be approved for sale here – particularly when New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) emissions regulations are coming into force next year.
Mr Humberstone told CarExpert earlier this year that allowing carmakers to use existing specifications from major markets like the UK, instead of following ADRs to the letter, could see the timeframe for the type approval process cut from 20 months to just six.
Nissan Australia specifically noted one local regulation that requires a top-tether point for the centre rear seat, which effectively require the company to tool up a solution for one market or sell a five-seater car as a four-seater as Honda did with its HR-V.
“Direct acceptance of Type Approvals from major markets would make the centre top tether point optional. This would allow OEMs to either bring overseas spec vehicles to market quickly, or provide a centre top tether in segments where customers want to put three child seats across the 2nd row,” the company said earlier this year.
“Importantly, there is no compromise on safety. The road rules prohibit installation of a child seat with a top tether in a seating location without an actual top tether.”
The Ariya isn’t the only EV in its segment that has been beset with delays.
Volkswagen’s rival ID.4 first went on sale in Europe late in 2020, but won’t arrive here until later this year.
The Ford Mustang Mach-E went on sale in North America in late 2020 but didn’t come here until late 2023, while the Toyota bZ4X went on sale there in 2022 and took until this year to arrive locally.
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