Nissan to produce electric Qashqai & Juke in Sunderland

Nissan is considering the production of battery-electric versions of the best-seller models Qashqai and Juke at its plant in Sunderland, England. The British government is reported to have campaigned for this.

According to Sky News, Nissan is planning to make an official statement on this on Friday. However, citing sources from the automotive industry, the broadcaster is already reporting that Nissan “to commit to manufacturing future electric versions of two of its best-selling models at its Sunderland plant after months of talks with the government.” UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt are said to have been involved in the negotiations. Nissan’s investment decision is said to be backed by “significant government funding guarantee”.

Nissan already produces hybrid versions of the Qashqai and Juke in Sunderland, as well as the all-electric Leaf. An as-yet-unnamed all-electric crossover model based on the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance’s CMF-EV platform will reportedly be added in the future. According to earlier information, Nissan is planning to create production capacity for this model in the region of 100,000 vehicles per year.

It has been clear since 2021 that Nissan wants to expand the plant in Sunderland into an eMobility production hub. To this end, Nissan and battery manufacturer AESC have launched the EV36Zero initiative, which is worth around one billion pounds. The aim is to bring together the manufacture of electric vehicles, renewable energies and battery production on-site. As part of this, a 35 GWh battery cell plant is also being built in Sunderland under the direction of AESC. Nissan owns 20 per cent of the Chinese company.

But back to the starting point: if the information about BEV versions of the Qashqai and Juke is confirmed, it will fit in with Nissan’s change in strategy: the manufacturer announced in September that it would only launch new all-electric cars on the European market with immediate effect and only sell BEVs in Europe from 2030.

This self-imposed commitment replaced Nissan’s previous goal of only introducing new passenger cars with partially or fully electric drive systems from 2023 and reaching a 100 per cent quota in Europe with electric and hybrid cars by the end of the decade.

Globally, Nissan is planning a total of 27 new electrified models by 2030, including 19 all-electric models. In September, Nissan reiterated its goal of launching electric vehicles with its own solid-state batteries (ASSB) by 2028.

news.sky.com