Speaking after the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Ghosn explained that electric vehicle sales aren't only driven by cost reduction, and that the technology is also being driven by global pressure on manufacturers to reduce emissions.

‘The price of oil is unpredictable – nobody predicted last year that we’d be at this level of oil price today, and nobody knows where the oil price will be next year or two years down the road,’ he said. ‘What is predictable is that the regulation on emissions is going to get tougher in the different markets where we are present.

‘I can bet you that more and more carmakers are coming to EVs even with the price of oil going down. Not only because nobody thinks the price of oil is going to remain where they are long term, but at the same time because without EV and zero emission it’s going to be very difficult to meet the regulations on emissions – particularly in China and the United States.’