Nissan to build electric car under China-only brand by 2015

GUANGZHOU, China (Reuters) - Nissan Motor Co (7201.T) will start making its first electric car under is China only brand by 2015, a Nissan executive said on Thursday.

Nissan and its joint venture partner Dongfeng Motor Group Co (0489.HK) will start producing Venucia e30 by 2015, Du Fan, a Nissan China spokesman, told Reuters on the sidelines of the Guangzhou autoshow.

The Japanese automaker will also start pilot projects in 15 Chinese cities to promote Venucia e30 jointly with local governments next year, it said in a news release.

It is currently promoting its own electric car Leaf in Wuhan, a city in central China and Guangzhou in the south.

Nissan has already launched two cars under the Venucia brand, D50 and R50, to tap the lower-end of the market now dominated by China's indigenous brands.

(Reporting Kazunori Takada; Writing by Fan Yang; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)