A bit of news out of Japan today tells us a lot about the level of Nissan’s commitment to electrifying its vehicles. According to the Nikkei outlet, Nissan will stop developing almost all its gasoline engines in its main markets.
The one exception would have to do with North America, as Nissan wants to continue to supply its pickups here with ICEs.
According to Nikkei, a big factor driving Nissan’s decision is the slew of ever-stricter government standards making it increasingly difficult to sell vehicles that run solely on internal combustion engines. In Europe, strict emissions regulations that aim to encourage the arrival of electric models make the development of new gasoline engines financially unsustainable for the company.
Nissan was already well along in its plans to electrify of its European lineup, and in fact the automaker will not offer the new 2023 Z sports model on the Old Continent. Nissan will now redouble its efforts to electrify its offering in China, Japan and, yes, North America, although not its pickups here, as mentioned.
Nissan Canada just recently presented the upcoming Ariya, the brand’s first all-electric SUV. The Ariya is expected to debut later this year.
Regarding those gasoline engines, it should be noted that while Nissan will stop developing new engines, that does not mean that it will in the short-term stop offering models with its current ICEs, or even putting some resources into improving those engines and making them more efficient. That could and probably does mean several more years of gas-powered Nissan models in our market.
For now, according to Nikkei, the Nissan engine assembly plants will remain operational, and no job cuts are planned. Those assigned to the development of gasoline engines will have the opportunity to adapt their facilities and know-how to the design of hybrid (with the current mechanics) and electric products.
Nissan would be the first Japanese manufacturer to make such a move away from internal combustion engines.
.jpg?scaledown=450)