Carlos Ghosn: Electric vehicle profitability may come "within next 3 years"

When the discussion turns to battery-powered cars, Renault-Nissan chief executive officer, Carlos Ghosn, is one outspoken, optimistic individual. In fact, it'd safe to say that Ghosn's bullish outlook for the electric vehicle (EV) segment is unmatched by any of his automotive peers. From claims of EVs accounting for ten percent of global sales in 2020 to promises that Renault-Nissan will have enough capacity to produce 500,000 electrics per year when demand, well, demands it, Ghosn never misses an opportunity to talk up the Alliance's electric dreams.

He's at it again. In an interview with Bloomberg Television last Wednesday, Ghosn reiterated some of his previous claims, but also dropped in something new. The bullish CEO opened with these words:

There are customers who want really zero emission cars. This segment is going to grow with time.

When asked about profiting from the sales of EVs, Ghosn offered this revelation:

When we will be reaching this level, overall product lineup will be profitable. This may happen within next three years.

The Nissan Leaf starts at $32,780 in the U.S. and it's hard to imagine that the automaker could profit at that price point, but Ghosn says it's true, so our doubts should be erased. Right?

[Source: Automotive News – sub. req.]