China poses challenge for Nissan-Google partnership
YOKOHAMA, Japan — The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance is accelerating its global push for connectivity and mobility services through a partnership with Google covering mapping, navigation and infotainment. But there’s one big stumbling block on the way: China.
Google services — which include Google Maps, Google Assistant and Google Play — are unavailable in China because of Beijing’s industrial policy.
“For China, it will not be Google services,” said Kal Mos, who joined the alliance in March as global vice president for connected vehicles. “It will be something else, depending on local service providers in China,” he told reporters last week at Nissan Motor Corp. headquarters here.