text: We have succeeded in shortening our production 
  
  pipeline, too, using a new vehicle development process 
  
  called V3P that our engineers devised over the past three 
  
  years. V3P, which stands for Value-up innovation of 
  
  Product, Process, and Program, has helped us cut our 
  
  development time almost in half, from 20 months to just 
  
  10.5 months. I believe this makes Nissan the world 
  
  benchmark in development. That improvement is having a 
  
  major effect on the flexibility and execution of R&D at 
  
  Nissan, and will ultimately boost the company’s profitability. 
  
  The number of new products we have brought to 
  
  market over the past three years is equally significant— 
  
  more than thirty new vehicles. That’s an impressive 
  
  engineering achievement, and the reason you are seeing 
  
  so many new Nissan models on the road. 
  
  Our R&D infrastructure, however, is still in need of 
  
  expansion. We’ve therefore begun building new facilities at 
  
  the Nissan Technical Center, NTC, and at the Nissan 
  
  Advanced Technical Center, NATC, both of which are in 
  
  Japan. These additions represent a major investment, and 
  
  show Nissan’s dedication to maintaining and enhancing its 
  
  technological skills. 
  
  Our technology base is in Japan, where we have some 