According to the automaker, the Nissan Livina will be its first in a line of new global vehicles, and is the first Nissan vehicle to debut in China before being released in other countries. "In July 2006, Nissan announced plans to introduce a series of new cars for our key global markets, with a sales forecast of 200,000 units per year. This new family of global cars represents a substantial investment for Nissan," said Nissan's executive vice president Carlos Tavares. "We expect the Livina, our second new model in this family, to make a significant contribution to our business globally as it is expected to become a high-volume model," he continued.