The Chinese market has become the growth engine of Nissan Motor's global strategy, CEO Ivan Espinosa said at the Auto China show, adding that the country enhances Nissan's overseas competitiveness via exported cars, know-how and technologies.

Nissan has shifted from adapting global models to developing China-tailored products, said Espinosa on Friday, adding that just adapting international products to the Chinese market was not good enough.

Nissan China Chairman Stephen Ma said the automaker is on track to launch 10 NEVs in China with a 10-billion-yuan ($1.46 billion) investment by 2027. In the past few months, the automaker has launched the N7 and N6 Frontier Pro sedans and the NX8 SUV.

The N7, which was planned, design, engineered and developed with Chinese customers in mind, has received more than 50,000 orders. Nissan has reduced its product development cycle in the Chinese market to 24 months to keep pace with domestic competitors, Espinosa said.

Nissan will soon ship the China-made N7 to Latin America and Southeast Asia. The Frontier Pro will also go to those regions plus the Middle East, with NX8 exports planned.

An import-export joint venture co-led by Ma and Dongfeng has been set up with a short-term export target of over 100,000 units and long-term goal of around 300,000.

Espinosa said: "We see a lot of potential (on exports). These products are good not only for China. The technologies, the speed of development, and the cost that we have achieved in the China ecosystem can play a very important role for us overseas."

Nissan's sales in China had slumped but began to recover in the second half of 2025, with a 4.5 percent year-on-year increase. In the first quarter of 2026, growth accelerated to 7.2 percent, driven by new products.

With the new products and export business, Ma said Nissan aims to reach a combined domestic and export volume of 1 million units at first. By the end of 2030, Nissan aims to achieve 1 million units in sales within China alone.