US: Nissan adjusts EV production plans amidst declining demand

Nissan has postponed the start of production for two electric saloons at its Canton plant in the US state of Mississippi by a few months due to slower growth in the electric car market. However, the carmaker decided to manufacture an additional electric model there - a new crossover SUV.

Nissan is taking it slow with EV adoption. While it does plan to expand its EV line-up in the near future, it hasn’t launched an EV offensive like some European and Chinese automakers in recent years. According to Automotive News, Nissan has made some major changes in its EV production plans in the US, and it isn’t the first time.

In February 2022, Nissan announced plans to build two electric sedans at its factory in Canton (Mississippi), USA, one for the core (Nissan) brand and one for the Infiniti. The company expected production of the first model to start in 2025 and intended to make Canton the centre for EV production in the States. Over the course of 2023, the Start of Production (SOP) was gradually postponed to June 2026. This January, there was a further delay to November 2026. Nissan has now postponed their production again.

Automotive News viewed a memo that Nissan sent to its suppliers. In it, the Japanese manufacturer asks the latter to “stop all development activities related to [the EV sedan] project until further notice.” Nissan will not announce a new SOP until mid-June. According to the report, one of the suppliers expects that it could even take six to eight months before Nissan announces a new plan – i.e. towards the end of this year.

The manufacturer later confirmed that it had paused development of the two saloons and added an electric crossover SUV to the planned US model range. “We are adjusting the timeline for the introduction of these five new models to ensure we bring the vehicles to the market at the right time,” a Nissan spokesperson told media.

As previously reported, Nissan also plans to build two electric crossover models in Mississippi. SOP was scheduled for 2028, but Automotive News speculates that the carmaker could now roll them out faster than the sedans. And Nissan has even added a fifth model to the line-up: the new EV, codenamed ‘PZ1L,’ could be a compact crossover like the Qashqai that Nissan used to sell as the Rogue Sport in the US (in the second generation). However, that has yet to be confirmed.

Commenting on the latest round of changes in Nissan’s EV production plans in Canton, Sam Fiorani, Vice President of AutoForecast Solutions, told media that suppliers need to be confident that vehicle projects will come to fruition before they bid on them. After popularising EVs with the Leaf hatchback last decade, Nissan has been quiet on the EV front for the most part. The Japanese automaker released the Ariya as a more advanced follow-up in a more popular, SUV body style in 2021, but it hasn’t launched any new global electric vehicle since. It seems the company’s EV offensive will begin only in the second half of the decade.

autonews.com (paywall), reuters.com, electrek.co