Nissan to build EV under Venucia brand

GUANGZHOU (Reuters) -- Nissan Motor Co. will start making its first electric car under its China-only Venucia brand by 2015, a company executive said.Nissan and its joint venture partner, Dongfeng Motor Corp., will produce the Venucia e30, company spokesman Du Fan said on the sidelines of the Guangzhou auto show.Nissan also will start pilot projects in 15 Chinese cities to promote the EV jointly with local governments next year, the company said in a statement.It is currently promoting its electric Leaf car in Wuhan, a city in central China and Guangzhou in the south.Nissan has already launched two cars under the Venucia brand, the D50 compact car and the R50 sport hatchback, to tap the lower end of the market now dominated by China's indigenous brands.In September, the company announced that it also would produce an SUV and two mid-sized sedans for Venucia. They will be built on existing platforms of Nissan vehicles.