“The future of mobility is electric, connected, and autonomous.” This bold declaration from Nissan succinctly encapsulates the mobility of tomorrow. As the world’s first brand to mass-produce an electric car, Nissan’s proven expertise in electrification has put more than 380,000 zero-emission electric vehicles on the road worldwide to date and the company’s plan to bring more than 1 million electrified vehicles to consumers around the world within fiscal year 2022 is a closer reality.

The global recognition of Nissan’s leadership in electrification has led to outstanding awards for the Nissan Leaf in major automotive events, such as the 2018 World Green Car award at the New York International Auto Show and paved the way for the vehicular icon of Nissan Intelligent Mobility to arrive to Asia and Oceania. In February of this year, Nissan announced the Nissan Leaf would become available for purchase within the company’s fiscal year 2019 in several countries around the region, including Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand; with the latter two markets already taking pre-orders of the vehicle.

The arrival of the Nissan Leaf to this region of the world is backed by a proven consumer appetite to move towards electrification. In a Nissan-backed study, 40 percent of Thai consumers expressed openness in buying an electric vehicle as their next car and 3 in 4 customers in Philippines would consider buying an electric vehicle as their next car if government incentives were in place. Without government incentives, that number drops below half.

To bolster forward thinking policy, Nissan continued to foster partnerships in 2018 with industry players bold and eager in leading this wave of change. In Thailand, Nissan signed an agreement with Metropolitan Electricity Authority to deliver home charging options and create stronger infrastructure for the Nissan Leaf. Nissan further invited top officials to the company’s headquarters to learn about electrification, such as Malaysia’s Trade Minister to Nissan’s Global Headquarters.