Ghosn gave few details, but stressed that Nissan's zero-emission cars will come "with a very reasonable price."
"If it's not affordable, it's not going to work," Ghosn told reporters.
"We are not going to come with a very high price. We are going to come with a reasonable price," he said. "We are here to mass market them."
SHOOT: 2012? Why not sooner?
Ghosn brushed off criticism that Nissan is falling behind its bigger rivals -- Toyota and Honda Motor Co. -- in the increasingly competitive market for gas-electric hybrid vehicles.
Nissan forecast its global market share will stand at 5.7 percent in the current financial year, up just 0.2 of a point year-on-year.
YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) -- Nissan Motor Co. said Tuesday its electric vehicles will be affordable, setting sights on the potentially lucrative market with a plan to mass produce zero-emission cars globally from 2012.
Japan's No. 3 automaker said it would unveil its first electric vehicle in Japan on August 2 and begin sales next year.
"We are moving forward with zero-emission vehicles," said Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn at a shareholders' meeting.
Nissan will sell electric cars first in Japan and the U.S. after April 2010, and then mass produce them globally in 2012.
Along with production in Japan and Europe, Ghosn said Nissan would make electric vehicles in the United States at its Smyrna plant in Tennessee with initial output capacity of more than 100,000 units per year.
"The U.S. is going to be a very important market" for the company's electric vehicle strategy, he said.
"I can tell you I'm not at all worried about how to sell these cars because there is an appetite for zero-emission cars."
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