Nissan to focus on electric vehicles in Europe
The Japanese carmaker Nissan has announced that it will refrain from investing in Euro 7-compliant pure combustion vehicles. Instead, the Japanese company will introduce new passenger cars in Europe only with partially or fully electric drives from 2023.
The company says it expects 75 per cent of its new cars in the region to be electric by the 2026 financial year. By the end of the decade, the target is 100 per cent. Nissan does not specify how sales are to be divided between BEVs, PHEVs and HEVs. The share of 75 per cent by 2026 had already been mentioned by Nissan last November.
Nissan plans to have six electrified models on offer in Europe in the near future, of which the Juke Hybrid, the Qashqai e-Power and the X-Trail e-Power are three hybrids and the Leaf, the Ariya and the Townstar are three battery-electric cars.
“Nissan is charging towards an electrified future, with Europe leading the way. We have established a clear direction through Ambition 2030 and with our new electrified line-up we are truly paving the way to a sustainable future,” says Guillaume Cartier, Chairman of Nissan AMIEO Region (Africa, Middle East, India, Europe and Oceania). “Leveraging our global presence and Alliance partnerships, this is a landmark moment for Nissan in Europe with the arrival of our most comprehensive product offering to date.” Ambition 2030 envisages 15 BEV models worldwide by 2030 – it is not known how many will come to Europe.
The move for the Japanese company not to invest in Euro 7 burners had been hinted at. In February, Nikkei reported that Nissan was suspending the development of new combustion engines in almost all main markets. Only in the USA would Nissan continue limited development of internal combustion engines for pickup trucks and SUVs due to high demand. For other markets, Nissan is planning further developments of hybrid drives on the combustion engine side, but will not develop completely new engines.
Instead, the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance is increasingly focusing on electric mobility; in January, investments in this future field were increased by 23 billion euros to 33 billion euros. Nissan is planning a battery factory in Sunderland together with Envision AESC; an electric crossover (presumably the SUV coupé of the Ariya) is also to be built in the vehicle plant there. Interestingly enough, Nissan sold its own battery subsidiary and the battery production in Sunderland to the Envision Group in 2018.
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