After bleeding money for years and a recently failed merger with Honda, it’s safe to say Nissan is in dire straits. However, it’s not throwing in the towel. With Chief Planning Officer Ivan Espinosa taking the CEO role from April 1 and a fresh product lineup inbound, the Japanese brand is confident it can turn things around. For its most important markets, the troubled automaker has prepared a slew of products launching in the near future.
As previously announced, the third-generation Leaf is morphing from a hatchback into a crossover because, of course, it is. The newcomer borrows the CMF-EV architecture from the larger Ariya and is the first electric Nissan to feature a NACS charging port. When it goes on sale in the US in the third quarter of the year, it’ll sit on 19-inch wheels and offer a panoramic sunroof. Japan and Europe will follow. Additional details will be disclosed in June, but we do know the body has a drag coefficient of 0.26 for better range.
Photo by: Nissan
The Leaf is one of more than 10 new cars planned by Nissan for the US and Canada. The current-generation Rogue will become the brand’s first plug-in hybrid in North America during the FY2025. Before this year ends, the wraps will come off the next-gen Sentra and an updated Pathfinder. The all-new Rogue will follow during FY26 with the company’s proprietary E-Power tech, where the gasoline engine serves as a generator to juice the battery, which in turn powers the electric motor. The fourth-gen Rogue will also be available as a plug-in hybrid and as a pure gas model.
By the end of FY27, Nissan intends to roll out a fully electric “adventure-focused” SUV it will build at the Canton, Mississippi factory.
Elsewhere, Nissan is also previewing the new Micra as an electric supermini based on the Renault 5. Derived from the edgy Hyper Punk concept, the Juke is also getting the EV treatment, but we won’t see these two models in the US. Europe is also getting a revised Qashqai with improved E-Power tech for better efficiency.
Nissan Is Bouncing Back:
Nissan Has a New CEO
Nissan Plans Massive Job Cuts and Plant Closures to Save Itself
Source: Nissan
