Nissan Motor Co and Renault hope to secure five deals for European electric car projects this year, after signing a deal with Monaco on Thursday, a senior executive said.
The alliance hopes to offer large volumes of electric cars to European markets by 2012, and will sign "at least five" more electric vehicle deals in 2009, Nissan International Senior Vice President Eric Nicolas told Reuters in an interview.
Interest is coming from medium-sized countries, regions and cities, he said, without giving any further details. "Were seeing a growing appetite, growing demand - there is a snowball effect," he said, noting the agreements already in place in Denmark and Israel.
The group last week signed a deal with UK regional development agency One North East to work together to promote and research the use of zero-emission vehicles.
Nicolas gave no sales target for Monaco, where from 2011 electric cars will ply streets that are home to the Monte Carlo Grand Prix circuit alongside full-throated Ferraris owned by the super-rich inhabitants of the tiny principality.
Monacos government, which will be investing in infrastructure for the project, while Nissan and Renault take care of the cars and batteries, is targeting that 50 percent of public fleet vehicle purchases are electric by 2011.
Nicolas said Nissan as a whole was in line with its previously announced expectations for sales volumes and results, as the car industry faces an unprecedented sales crisis. Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn last month forecast the groups first annual loss in his tenure in the top job.
Nicolas also confirmed the groups stocks of unsold vehicles - a key indicator of how carmakers are coping with the slump in demand for new cars - were "compatible with our objectives." Nissans European arm has not seen any significant problems with suppliers so far, he added.
French carmakers Renault and PSA Peugeot Citroen on Wednesday voiced their growing concerns about the financial health of suppliers at a senate hearing.
The Russian market is still "completely depressed", Nicolas said. Before the crisis, Russia had been expected to overtake Germany as Europes largest car market this year or next, but sales have tumbled as the global banking crisis slashed credit available to consumers. Ernst & Young analyst Ivan Bonchev predicted earlier this month that demand for new cars in Russia would drop by 40 percent to 50 percent in 2009 compared with 2008. In Europe as a whole, Nicolas said he had not noticed significant changes in the banking and financial environment since the beginning of the year.