Channel News Asia. Nissan will spend ¥ 70 billion (some $642 million) to develop its own H₂ fuel cell vehicle by 2007.

With the project, Nissan would join its main rivals Toyota and Honda, which in 2002 became the world’s first auto makers to lease the low-pollution vehicles, the business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun said.

While Nissan began selling cars powered by US-made fuel cells in 2003, the latest project would allow the Japanese auto maker, controlled by Renault of France, to develop a cutting edge cell on its own.

This comes on the heels of Nissan’s CEO Carlos Ghosn’s statement (earlier post) that: “There is no doubt about it, if the American consumers want more fuel-efficient cars we’re ready for it.”

Interestingly, while Nissan is partnering with Toyota for the upcoming hybrid Nissan Altima, it appears to want to have its own intellectual property and ownership of the H₂ car—a clear delineation of what the vendor considers tactical versus strategic.