Despite growing skepticism about electric vehicles in the global auto industry, Nissan remains committed to an all-electric future and does not intend to invest in the development of new internal combustion engines.
Nissan announced back in 2022 that it was going to stop developing new internal combustion engines amid a slowly but surely advancing electric vehicle future, but in 2023, a global slowdown in demand for electric vehicles began, which could well force Nissan to change its mind. Many major automakers, including Ford, GM and Mercedes-Benz, have already significantly pessimized their electric vehicle plans and are preparing to increase production of “hydrocarbon” models (mainly hybrids), but Nissan does not yet intend to change its plans.
< p>Nissan Senior Vice President Francois Bailly, quoted by Australian Drive magazine, speaking to reporters at Nissan's British plant in Sunderland, said the company would no longer spend money on developing new internal combustion engines, but would instead focus on improving existing units and hybrids. e-Power power plants, which are a bridge from internal combustion engines to full electrification. In Europe, Nissan plans to switch completely to electric vehicles as early as 2030.
In the coming years, Nissan promises a whole bunch of new electric cars in Europe, North America and China — the question is whether they will be in demand. Nissan pioneered electrification last decade with its successful affordable Leaf hatchback, but was unable to quickly prepare a new generation of electric vehicles: the Nissan Ariya crossover entered the market too late and sold sluggishly, despite deep discounts.
On Last week, Toyota, Mazda and Subaru announced at the Multipathway Workshop that they intend to continue to develop internal combustion engines (in-line, opposed and rotary piston) for their new models and adapt them to run on carbon-neutral synthetic fuels to make contribute to global decarbonization.
Representatives of Toyota, Mazda and Subaru demonstrate their promising internal combustion engines
The statement from Toyota, Mazda and Subaru does not say anything about joining forces or any synergy (at least at the level of purchasing components); Multipathway Workshop is simply a kind of manifesto in which three Japanese companies said that there is no need to focus on electric vehicles, that an integrated approach is needed in the formation of model ranges for each specific market and that new models with internal combustion engines (mainly, of course, hybrids) can bring no less benefits for the environment than electric trains. Another thing is that no one is engaged in the mass production of synthetic fuel; at the moment, such fuel is seen as a solution to the “hydrocarbon” problem only in relation to expensive sports cars.
In March of this year, Nissan announced its entry into into an alliance with Honda, which also remains committed to the electric vehicle doctrine and intends to completely get rid of internal combustion engines by 2040. In turn, the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance still exists, but for the most part it is purely formal; there are few joint projects left within it.
If Nissan suddenly needs new internal combustion engines, it will be able to buy them from the joint venture between Renault and Geely, which officially launched last week under the guise of Horse Powertrain Limited. In addition to Nissan, the clients of this joint venture will be Volvo and Mitsubishi.