Nissan 360 Global Brand Showcase Event Ends on Successful Note

• Nissan hosted more than 1,500 guests (including over 800 media) who logged over 15,000 test drives and were offered nine different in-depth presentation opportunities about the brand, business and product strategies
• Month-long Nissan 360 brand and product showcase event concluded on September 19
• During the event, Nissan generated excitement by announcing its goal of readying commercially viable autonomous driving vehicles by 2020

YOKOHAMA, Japan – There is nothing like a spectacular month-long birthday party to signify a milestone. As part of commemorations marking its 80th anniversary, Nissan Motor Company held the Nissan 360 brand showcase event in Irvine, California, during August and September. Aimed at highlighting the company's latest vehicles and showcasing its cutting-edge technologies, the event concluded with many impressive achievements.

This was the third 360 event hosted by Nissan since the automaker's inaugural event in 2004. This year's event offered a comprehensive product and technology experience to participants from around the world. Global in nature and execution, the program offered guests multiple opportunities to gain first-hand insight into the people, products, technologies and strategies that are driving Nissan's growth. This was the largest Nissan 360 hosted so far, and it delivered more stories about Nissan and involved more participants than ever before. It was also the first time that this significant corporate event included the Datsun brand.

“Nissan 360 showed the world our advanced automotive technologies, innovative products, and the people behind them," said Andy Palmer, executive vice president in charge of Global Product Planning, Corporate Planning, and Global Marketing Communications. “I was particularly pleased with the reaction to our autonomous drive technology reveal. The announcement that we will have autonomous drive vehicles ready for roads by 2020 showed Nissan's leadership in this area, and points the way forward for the exciting developments to come."

By the time Nissan 360 ended, the company had hosted more than 1,500 people — media, investment analysts, dealers, fleet and commercial customers. Overall, these participants, hailing from over 60 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, logged over 15,000 test drives from among the 100 drivable vehicles on hand representing Nissan markets around the world. They drove over 30,000 miles (48,280 km) — about the same distance as the circumference of the Earth.

In addition to the 100 test cars, Nissan had 32 eye-pleasing display vehicles on hand. There were all kinds of cars available to drive or view: Japan's unique “kei" mini-cars; the Nissan Civilian minibus; the latest GT-R supercar; light commercial vehicles; and electric vehicles — even a Nissan Cedric taxi cab from Tokyo. A diverse menu of seven test tracks offered a variety of road surfaces for nearly every type of driving scenario.

All that exciting driving during peak summer heat made participants parched and hungry. Nissan was up to the challenge, providing over 1,813 hot dogs and other delicious local foods, washed down with 17,459 recyclable bottles of water, and topped off with 2,300 servings of Ben and Jerry's ice cream to cool people down amid the hot climate.

Many of the 800-plus journalists who attended Nissan 360 gained in-depth insight from briefings about Nissan Motor Company's brands and technologies afforded by the attendance of 42 key executives, designers, engineers and product experts from around the world. Much of the event information was delivered in an environmentally-responsible way by providing participants with a hand-held digital device to receive vehicle and program information, book test drives, and share/store content, thereby obviating the need for reams of paper.

Nissan 360 was the first in a series of signature events being held to mark the company's 80th anniversary. It demonstrated the best of Nissan: the latest breakthroughs in vehicle technologies and detailed presentations about business strategies. The event exposed attendees to the stories that lie behind the innovative and exciting products and technologies that are driving Nissan's future growth — and making it a company to watch.

About Nissan Motor Co.
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Japan's second-largest automotive company, is headquartered in Yokohama, Japan, and is part of the Renault-Nissan Alliance. Operating with approximately 236,000 employees globally, Nissan sold more than 4.9 million vehicles and generated revenue of 9.6 trillion yen (USD 116.16 billion) in fiscal 2012. Nissan delivers a comprehensive range of over 60 models under the Nissan and Infiniti brands. In 2010, Nissan introduced the Nissan LEAF, and continues to lead in zero-emission mobility. The LEAF, the first mass-market, pure-electric vehicle launched globally, is now the best-selling EV in history.

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