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News - Nissan - AriyaAriya not late, right on time: Nissan AustraliaNissan Australia insists the late arrival of Ariya BEV is strategic, not hesitation8 Sep 2025 By MATT BROGAN NISSAN finally launched the fully electric Ariya medium SUV into the Australian market this week, three years behind the model’s UK debut – and headlong into a throng of same-sized rivals from both established and newly-launched competitors.
Yet, the Japanese importer insists the timing of the Ariya’s arrival is part of a strategic move, and not simply a wait-and-see style reaction to toughening New Vehicle Efficiency Standards (NEVS) from the federal government.
Speaking with GoAuto at the Australian Ariya launch in Victoria this week, Nissan Oceania managing director Andrew Humberstone said the importer was deliberate in delaying the model’s arrival, choosing to wait for the market to mature, rather than being stuck with cars it cannot sell.
“How do we move from effectively an ICE product range to a hybrid product range, to full electric? And what is the speed that you do that in order to meet all of your customers’ needs and expectations?” he posed.
“We need to manage the NVES components of what we are doing – both with Ariya and of course our E-Power (hybrid) technology.
“We are very excited to have the Ariya here. The timing is right (and) we have been very careful on the timing of this product, given the various stages of where this product is at in various markets across the world.”
When asked directly if NVES had any direct bearing on the decision to bring Ariya to market behind the rest of the world, Mr Humberstone said regulations certainly played their part, but insisted the decision was primarily customer driven.
“What we have done is to be very much customer focussed. It (deciding when to introduce Ariya) has also been about whether the infrastructure is ready, whether the customer demand is there, and what’s going on in the market,” he emphasised.
“There has been massive interest in our E-Power technology – hybrid technology as a bridge toward full electrification – and that has helped in deciding when the right time is to bring this car.
“On top of that you have the NVES legislation, which by definition is another component that we factored in. But the decision (to delay the introduction of Ariya) is largely customer driven – we had to look at all of the variables.”
Mr Humberstone said he believed that introducing the Ariya earlier would have worked against the model’s success.
He said that world events, a lack of reliable infrastructure, and customer take-up following the Ariya’s 2022 launch would have resulted in a less than successful debut for the model in Australia.
“The market simply wasn’t there,” he said bluntly.
“We did our research, and from a consumer point of view, the demand was not there.
“There were charging infrastructure challengers, and there were still a lot of question marks around the NVES – and the status of how that was going to manifest itself.
“So, from our point of view, bringing the Ariya here three years ago would have seen a lot of stock potentially sitting around and very few sales. The market was not ready for it.
“When we bring a product to market is very much about market maturity and consumer maturity – in terms of being in the EV space. The geography is different here. The distances you travel is different here.
“There is no point bringing in a car that won’t succeed. That is why we chose to wait and be much more strategic with our approach to market.”
Regarding volume expectations for the Ariya in Australia, Mr Humberstone again said he would respond to customer interest, and adjust production requests according, insisting he would focus on “protecting the vehicle” and its residual value on behalf of Nissan customers.
“This is a flagship product for us, and it’s really important that we get it right,” he continued.
“I am not going to be production driven, I am going to be customer driven in terms of demand. I am not going to order tens of thousands of vehicles and bring them to market and then be in a situation where we have to take actions (discounting, et al).
“We want to protect the residual value of the vehicle. We want to do the right thing by the vehicle – and we want to do the right thing be our customer base.
“I want to build a healthy order bank for this vehicle. We want to be sensible with it. We want to protect the car.”
Visit GoAuto again soon for our Australian launch review of the 2025 Nissan Ariya.  Read more8th of September 2025  Nissan Qashqai to go hybrid-onlye-Power only for Nissan Qashqai as importer works towards greener line-up8th of September 2025  Nissan reminds customers of 10-year warrantyLimited time remains for eligible Nissan customers to unlock 10-year/300,000km warranty |
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