Why Nissan Wants to Keep All Its Latest Tech Affordable

Cadillac’s Super Cruise system is seriously impressive and a major mile-marker on the road to fully autonomous vehicles. But Nissan is not taking the same approach with its upcoming technology.

As groundbreaking as Cadillac Super Cruise is, it’s only offered on the brand’s flagship CT6 sedan, and then only on the highest trims.

SEE ALSO: Does Cadillac’s Super Cruise Self-Driving Technology Actually Work?

“You know, we’re testing cars in Silicon Valley that go beyond what Cadillac is doing,” said Michael Bunce, vice president of product planning at Nissan North America. “And we could say, ‘You know what, we’ll offer it only in the upper ends of Infiniti on an $85,000 QX80.’ But that’s not the approach.”

“I can guarantee you what we won’t do is, we won’t start rolling out the next generation of technology way up in the stratosphere of the price band. That’s not what we’re about,” continued Bunce.

Take Nissan’s ProPILOT assist adaptive-cruise technology for instance. While not as advanced as Cadillac’s latest offering, is nonetheless an important and helpful feature that makes long-haul drives less fatiguing by keeping the vehicle centered in its lane and providing steering assist. It’s also proven to be very popular. “Orders on the Rogue were already outstripping the supply,” said Bunce. It’s a similar story with the new Leaf EV as well.

SEE ALSO: Nissan ProPILOT Assist Takes Adaptive Cruise Control to the Next Level

By keeping prices reasonable, Nissan is hoping to democratize these sorts of features going forward. “As we take the next-generation of technology we can understand how much consumers are willing to pay,” explained Bunce. “What you don’t want to do is put technology in a car that consumers are not using or see the value in… it ends up in poor customer satisfaction because I’ve paid my hard-earned cash for something that I’m not using.”

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