Nissan Ditches EV Sedans in the U.S., Shifting Toward SUV Development

Nissan Ditches EV Sedans in the U.S. Nissan has recently reversed its plans by canceling the electric sedan offering in the US market and now plans to concentrate all efforts on electric SUVs. Market signals provided to Nissan indicated that an increasing SUV demand was coming from most customers. In its official announcement, the company stated, “We are committed to delivering the right product to customers at the right time, at the right place, and at the right price. We are focusing on listening to the information received from the market and, most importantly, from our customers. Both are indicating that we need to reevaluate our EV offerings and prioritize the real needs of customers-giving more importance to SUVs than sedans.”

Shift from electric sedan to SUV

This was a major shift for Nissan from its earlier plans to launch two electric sedan models in the US market. These plans are now canceled. Nissan is expected to have made this decision after calculating that electric sedans would be unprofitable at this time. This report was carried by Automotive News, stating that the decision was based on an internal memo from Nissan seeing the light of day on April 21.

Shrinking sedan market

“The sedan market is shrinking…we have to face reality,” Nissan North America’s head, Christian Meunier, told Automotive News. This declaration indicates that Nissan has resolved to rethink its long-term strategies relative to consumer trends. Ponz Pandikuthira, Nissan North American product planning chief, said, “Premium sedans are not a good fit for us. If an electric sedan costs more than $45,000, you are no longer in the core of the sedan market.”

Battery and technology cost challenge

For Nissan, one of the most challenging hurdles had been the battery and technical expenses required in making electric sedans. The cost of manufacturing these new models would have been prohibitively expensive for the mainstream customer base of Nissan. Now, instead of launching electric sedans, the company will head towards fully electric SUVs, which will remain more profitable for Nissan and attractive to customers as the demand for SUVs is rapidly rising.

Nissan’s upcoming SUV plan

Now Nissan will focus on new electric SUV models, including three fully electric SUV models to be manufactured in Mississippi. According to an Automotive News report, one of these SUVs (codenamed PZ1K) is the same model that Nissan recently showcased at an event in Japan. Production for this particular SUV was initially set to commence in 2027 but has now been pushed back to 2028.

An Infiniti model (codenamed PZ1J) is also planned, but its production will start in May 2028, four months later than before. The third model has also been mentioned, which will be another electric vehicle, but there is no clear indication regarding its identity and date of production.

Nissan’s strategy: Customer preferences

This new turn of Nissan was made in consideration of market competition. Now it gives preference to electric SUVs in light of the preferences expressed by its customer base. This decision is an indicator that Nissan will be taking its product down this road in order to secure a bigger market share now and even in the future.

Declining demand for the Electric Sedan in the American market

The interest in electric sedans has been dormant for quite a number of years in the US market, and this trend was what gave Nissan something to think about. On the one hand, SUVs are gaining increasing demand, while the sedan segment is gradually losing. Therefore, understanding this, Nissan took a U-turn, and now the whole company strategy is focused on electric SUVs.

Way Forward

This move from Nissan indicates that the future will come with more electric SUVs and other high-demand vehicles. The company has given assurance that it is fully ready for these new SUVs, which are going to be rolled out in 2028 onwards. This new direction from Nissan indicates that they are customizing their products according to the preferences of the customers as well as the evolving trends in the market.

Conclusion

Nissan has come up with a major alteration of plans, scrapping its offer of electric sedans in the American market. Instead, all the force now goes into the electric SUV direction. It has been done considering the changing customer preferences. This step can be fruitful, as SUV is the hottest market in today’s time. Again, Nissan can be seen in quite a robust position on the market in the coming years with its new electric SUVs.

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