Nissan will produce three battery electric vehicles in Sunderland
- Nissan, which has become independent again since the end of the Renault-Nissan group, must now accelerate its development in electric vehicles, after a decline of several years, even if the Japanese carmaker had been one of the pioneers in this market with the launch of the Leaf in 2012. Nissan has been gradually overtaken by several competitors in electric vehicles (Tesla, BYD, Volkswagen) and its recent Ariya model is not a success.
- Nissan must also clarify its situation in Europe after the closure of its Spanish factory in Barcelona and its Russian factory in Saint Petersburg. The only remaining factory in Europe is Sunderland (United Kingdom), whose production volume collapsed between 2016 and 2021, going from 500,000 units per year to 200,000 during this period.
- The Nissan Qashqai and Juke having now been renewed, the production volume at the Sunderland factory has increased to 238,000 units in 2022 and 315,000 units in 2023. But a more vigorous recovery is necessary, because the factory's capacities reach 500,000 units per year.
- To meet its two objectives (accelerate its development in electric vehicles and relaunch activity at the Sunderland factory), Nissan has therefore announced – in addition to the launch of the future Micra BEV produced in Douai (France) – the launch in Sunderland of three new battery electric vehicles by 2030, which will succeed the Qashqai (C-segment SUV), Juke (B-segment SUV) and Leaf (C-segment Sedan) models.