Nissan Electric Cars Will Be For Mass Market: CEO Ghosn

The success of the Tesla Model S has automakers--particularly German automakers--scrambling to build pricey luxury plug-in electric cars to compete with the upstart from Silicon Valley.

But the automaker that's sold more electric cars than anyone else plans to continue in a different direction.

The Renault Nissan Alliance will concentrate on mass-market electric cars, rather than luxury models, CEO Carlos Ghosn told reporters at the recent Tokyo Motor Show.

DON'T MISS: Nissan And Renault Have Now Sold More Than 250,000 Electric Cars

Renault and Nissan will not produce a rival to the Model S or Model X, Ghosn said during a roundtable discussion (via Charged EVs).

"Frankly we are concentrated on the mass market, the core market," he remarked. He said the small sales increases that would result from "going niche" by competing with Tesla aren't what Renault-Nissan is aiming for.

If the company moves in any new direction with electric cars, it will be crossovers, Ghosn said. Crossovers are currently experiencing a boom in the U.S., as well as Europe and China.

Concentration on the mass market could mean the on-again, off-again Infiniti electric car will remain on the back burner.

Since displaying the Infiniti LE concept at the 2012 New York Auto Show, executives have vacillated about committing to a production luxury electric car.

The LE was a four-door sedan based on then-current Nissan Leaf underpinnings, using a 100-kilowatt (134-horsepower) electric motor and 24-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack.

ALSO SEE: Infiniti Sees No Demand For Luxury Electric Cars Before 2020