By Daniel Leussink and Maki Shiraki
TOKYO, June 23 (Reuters) - Nissan has stopped work on an electric version of its top-selling model in Europe, six sources with knowledge of the matter said, as the Japanese automaker trims its lineup and cuts costs.
The move to quietly halt development of a fully electric Qashqai comes as traditional rivals and new Chinese entrants flood Europe with affordable alternatives.
While shelving the project will save money, Nissan may not be able to bring the car to market
until early next decade if it has a rethink, likely leaving it trailing peers in a key market segment.
Nissan in 2023 committed to building an EV version of its Qashqai SUV at Sunderland, Britain's largest car plant, a plan that was hailed by the UK government at the time as cementing its position as a global EV manufacturing hub. The company at the time did not specify a timeline to deliver the EV variant.
The automaker has since embarked on a major global restructuring, however, and is currently in talks with London about securing financial support for an updated roadmap for the plant expected in coming months, Reuters exclusively reported last week.
That announcement is expected to clarify its latest plans for the electric Qashqai, development of which was halted early last year, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
It already makes the electric compact Leaf at the plant and in April unveiled an electric crossover SUV Juke to be built there.
Even if Nissan restarts the Qashqai EV project, it would not come to market until the early 2030s, two of the sources said.
In a statement, Nissan did not address its plans for a fully electric Qashqai, but said it remained committed to expanding its "electrified" line-up, which includes hybrid models.
The company added that the European market had experienced "significant volatility" in EV demand and that it was pursuing a "balanced" electrification strategy.
A UK government spokesperson declined to comment on Nissan's commercial decisions.
TOUGH CHINESE COMPETITION
Nissan already sells the Qashqai as a petrol and hybrid vehicle, and the model accounted for about 45% of its total sales of 330,000 cars in Europe in 2025, according to its sales data analysed by Reuters.
Any new government funding for Nissan will be connected to its commitment to produce new models or variants and protect jobs at Sunderland, which employs about 6,000 workers in England's industrial northeast, sources previously told Reuters.
Nissan said this month it had signed a pact with Chery to study manufacturing the Chinese carmaker's vehicles using one of the two lines at Sunderland.
Britain is also consulting carmakers over plans to water down rules that require them to hit EV sales targets or face punitive fines, two of the sources said.
Those changes would provide Nissan with room to make more hybrid vehicles at Sunderland, which produced more than 35% of all cars made in Britain last year, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
BROADER RETHINK ON EVS
Behind the decision to shelve the electric Qashqai lies a broader reassessment of the carmaker's lineup.
Nissan earlier this year confirmed it would halt plans to build two electric SUVs at its Canton, Mississippi, plant and instead focus on hybrid models. Globally, the firm has said it will cut the number of its models to 45 from 56.
Proposals for new European Union rules setting local content requirements for EVs have also clouded the outlook for manufacturing those vehicles in Britain, which left the bloc in 2020.
Around 60% of the cars produced in Britain are exported to the EU. UK car lobby group SMMT argues that being shut out of "Made in EU" poses a threat to Britain's car industry.
That uncertainty is already impacting Nissan's supply chain.
A plan to build a three-in-one electric vehicle powertrain in Sunderland at a factory operated by Nissan subsidiary JATCO has also been scrapped, the companies confirmed in statements to Reuters. ($1 = 0.7345 pounds)
(Reporting by Daniel Leussink and Maki Shiraki; Editing by John Geddie and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
