By 2030, Nissan’s e-Power will be the leading powertrain in the United States
Having drawn a line under the plug-in chapter, the Japanese manufacturer is reorganising its production chain in the US to drive forward the new generation of electrified engines.
Nissan has announced a strategic shift for the North American market: the company aims to make hybrid powertrains its core offering by 2030. The strategy was outlined by Christian Meunier, Chairman of Nissan Americas, during a briefing held at the company’s headquarters in Yokohama and confirmed at the Automotive News Congress in Detroit. To bridge the gap with rivals such as Toyota and Honda, the Japanese manufacturer will introduce e-Power technology to the US market – the extended-range electric system with an internal combustion engine that functions solely as a generator – along with new V6 hybrid options for pick-up trucks and SUVs with ladder-frame chassis. The Rogue e-Power SUV will go on sale in the US from November, initially imported from the Kyushu plant in Japan. In 2028, production will be transferred to the American plant in Smyrna, Tennessee, where a third shift is planned to be introduced to fully utilise its production capacity (600,000 units per year).
The Kicks e-Power compact crossover is also set to arrive in the United States by 2028. At the same time, the brand will develop V6 hybrid powertrains for its new range of body-on-frame trucks and SUVs, with the new Xterra among the first models to feature them. Nissan has discontinued production and sales of the Rogue plug-in hybrid, which was based on the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV platform. Meunier explained that PHEV sales in the US have plummeted and that the model served only as a temporary stopgap whilst awaiting the e-Power technology. Nissan’s long-term goal is to increase local assembly in America to 80 per cent by 2030 (compared with the current 65 per cent and 40 per cent by early 2025), thereby mitigating the impact of tariffs. To supply the Canadian market whilst avoiding the 25 per cent retaliatory tariffs on vehicles produced in the United States, the Rogue model destined for Canada will continue to be exported directly from Japan.
