Nissan Europe product plan 2025-2028: the Sunderland plant concentrates the production of the best-selling Nissan models in Europe
- The Japanese carmaker Nissan has only one remaining assembly plant in Europe, in Sunderland (England), since the Spanish plants in Barcelona and Avila, as well as the Russian one Saint Petersburg, were closed a few years ago. It is therefore on the Sunderland site that the best-selling Nissan models in Europe are produced, namely the Juke (B-segment SUV) and Qashqai (C-segment SUV) which last year achieved 75,000 sales and 140,000 sales respectively. These two models total 300,000 units produced in a factory which has a production capacity of 450,000 vehicles per year, thus representing two thirds of the factory's capacity in 2023. Nissan therefore intends to increase the production volume of this factory by focusing on electric technologies which will be mounted on the future Juke and Qashqai, in addition to the Leaf which was discontinued in March 2024 and will be renewed next year.
- The Juke and Qashqai are currently only available in thermal, mild-hybrid (MHEV) or full-hybrid (HEV) versions, which means that there is no longer a battery electric version produced in Sunderland today.
- AESC is increasing the capacity of its Sunderland factory to delivery battery cells for 250,000 BEVs per year, but the launch of battery electric vehicles in Nissan Sunderland plant will start from 2025 with the arrival of the future Leaf (2025), the future Juke (2026) then the future Qashqai (2027). However, the electric offensive of Nissan will begin next year with the launch of the future battery electric Micra based on the Renault 5 E-Tech and produced at the French Maubeuge site. Nissan therefore wants to sell 40% of battery electric vehicles in Europe in 2026 (compared to less than 10% in 2023). This is a very ambitious objective, practically unachievable. And Europe would thus be very far ahead of the rest of the world, since Nissan plans to sell only 20% of battery electric vehicles in regions outside Europe, including China.