On March 1, 2025, at Chimelong in Guangzhou, Dongfeng Nissan held a "NI Good - Dongfeng Nissan's Best Technology Release Conference", blending warmth with sharpness. Using the warm narrative of 'home', Dongfeng Nissan showcases a sharp ambition, breaking away from the stereotype of Japanese cars being 'technologically conservative' in the field of new energy.
Behind this declaration, 'Home is the origin of technological innovation,' lies the most profound understanding of joint venture brands in the era of new energy - when China's new energy penetration rate breaks through the critical point of 50%, when independent brands rewrite market rules at the rate of one new car per month, the former joint venture giants are standing on the edge of the cliff overlooking the abyss.

Dongfeng Nissan's decision to showcase its "Tianyan Architecture" and its first pure electric sedan N7 at this time is not only a last ditch battle, but also a declaration to the industry that the transformation of joint venture brands is not just a footnote to the era of intelligent electrification, but a rallying cry for progress.

This is not an ordinary technical show either. The phrase 'NI is good' is not only a greeting from Dongfeng Nissan to its 16 million users over the past 22 years, but also a question for opening a new chapter in the era of intelligent electric vehicles. At the moment of awakening consciousness, in addition to showcasing the rare sharpness of joint venture brands in the new energy era, there is also an ambition to no longer rely on brand halo and face competition with hardcore technology. Because Dongfeng Nissan "has no way out except for success

The 'technological uprising' breaks the genetic lock

At the forefront of the storm, as China's new energy penetration rate exceeds 50% and independent brands and new forces in car manufacturing break through, joint venture brands have to face a cruel reality: in the era of new energy, the balance of technological definition has tilted towards the Chinese market.
And has the question of whether joint venture brands lack genes in producing electric vehicles been hanging over their heads like the sword of Damocles. Therefore, the "Tianyan Architecture" released this time has become the core carrier for Dongfeng Nissan to solve the problem of new energy transformation and break the genetic lock.

On the "Tianyan Architecture" booth in the center of the venue, the display of hardcore technologies such as "four needle punched batteries" and "end-to-end intelligent driving" symbolizes a groundbreaking "technological uprising". The foundation for building a new technological fortress is Dongfeng Nissan's new "GLOCAL model" (globalization+localization), which not only continues Nissan's 78 year accumulation of electric drive technology, but also integrates the intelligent genes and innovation of China's local R&D team.

The "Tianyan Architecture" has three major advantages: ultra-high safety efficiency, super compatibility and extension, and superior intelligent comfort. And these three major advantages indicate that Tianyan Architecture is not only catching up with the "forefront of new energy technology", but also "rolling" AI to empower comfort and reshape technological DNA.

From the parameters, its battery protection reaches the level of "four needle punched multi cell no heat spread", the 800V platform supports 6C fast charging, and the response speed of highly integrated intelligent electric drive reaches one ten thousandth of a second. Solid data points directly to the three major technical pain points of safety anxiety, energy replenishment efficiency, and power smoothness in the current new energy market.

The significance lies not in the data itself, but in Nissan opening up its core technologies of batteries, electric drive, and intelligent driving to Chinese teams. Three years ago, this was almost a fantasy. By cleverly activating a game of chess, Tianyan Architecture was able to break the genetic lock of "joint ventures cannot do well in new energy", and also allowed Dongfeng Nissan, under the new "GLOCAL" development model, to control the technological dominance of the smart electric era and maintain its leading position in the joint venture car enterprise camp.

The "end-to-end intelligent driving model" developed in collaboration with Momenta is the most imaginative part of Dongfeng Nissan's technology system. Its high-speed NOA supports 130km/h braking, and its intelligent parking function is at the forefront of the industry. As the first joint venture to come standard with advanced intelligent driving, coupled with the strongest intelligent cockpit in its class, Dongfeng Nissan's "intelligent equality" has also demonstrated a new technological foundation.

At the same time, this has also become a microcosm of the transition of joint ventures: using the "fast" of local supply chains to compensate for the "slow" of their own research and development. Dongfeng Nissan has chosen a more pragmatic path, deeply customizing with Momenta to create a segment of end-to-end advanced intelligent driving, entering the industry's top tier in intelligent driving.

After all, in this era of "fast fish eating slow fish", the automotive market is experiencing "life and death speed" every day. It is inevitable for Dongfeng Nissan to launch the "most home" trend, which will also help it solve the "triple challenges" it faces in its rapid progress: cognitive revolution, time window, and transformation path.
Firstly, Dongfeng Nissan is comprehensively shifting from an "engineer mindset" to a "user mindset". Moreover, there is a greater emphasis on the role of the team. As Liu Xinyu, General Manager of Dongfeng Nissan Motor Sales Co., Ltd., said, "We are shifting from a wolf culture to a goose culture

Behind the transformation lies the cognitive reconstruction faced by traditional car companies - when new forces identify themselves as "user enterprises" and continue to stick to customers through community operations and OTA upgrades, can joint venture brands break free from the inertia of "building cars behind closed doors"? The lightning war of user demand and the battlefield war of car companies' research and development are destined to be an unequal war. Only a cognitive revolution can break through.

Secondly, the current industry consensus is that 2025 will be a more "rolling" year, and 2026 will be the year when the new energy market pattern solidifies. So, when the N7 is deployed, there is no waiting for anyone, including 5 new energy vehicle models to support it before 2026, and Dongfeng Nissan is quickly laying out its strategy.

At the same time, there are currently three paths for joint venture transformation - Volkswagen style strong attack, Toyota style conservatism, and Nissan style integration. Dongfeng Nissan, which chose the third route to break through, is quickly filling the gaps in intelligence by leveraging local supply chains (such as Momenta and Huawei), and is becoming a new model for the transformation of joint venture corps. Of course, its success or failure will also profoundly affect the industry's judgment of the possibility of joint venture transformation.

We have reason to believe, as I stated in my 2011 book 'Searching for Dongfeng Nissan DNA', that with the Dongfeng Nissan DNA of 'full system competitiveness', as well as the courage to self revolution, super strong execution, and resilience, Dongfeng Nissan can still fly in the wind in the AI era where the' wave has arrived '.