Amid rising environmental concerns and the growing popularity of electric vehicles in the market, Japanese automaker Nissan Motor has decided to end making new internal combustion engines and rather focus on developing electric vehicles, as reported by Nikkei Asia.
It has been learned that the car manufacturer will stop the manufacturing of new combustible engines in most of its major markets but will continue to serve the demand in the US. Nissan is now believed to be aiming at improving its existing engine designs as vehicles powered by gasoline-run engines still ply on roads. However, the company has no plans to make new engine designs for its upcoming cars.
As reported by Nikkei Asia, although Nissan will completely phase out creating gasoline engines for the Japanese and Chinese markets, it has also assured that there will be no job cuts for now due to this decision and the plants which produce engines will also continue to operate. The automaker also has plans to gradually shift the workers involved in the development and production of gasoline engines, to the electric vehicle motors, hybrid motors and other divisions.
In an interview with CNBC, the chief operating officer of Nissan, Ashwani Gupta confirmed that the company has decided to end developing new combustible engines for Europe. The CEO explained that the move is due to Euro 7, which is a set of stringent emission standards adopted by Europe.
Ashwani further said that the regulation would require the cars to be equipped with new technology resulting in an increase in the prices of the vehicles. “Another factor to consider was whether customers would be willing to pay for the cost of such tech,” he added.
The CEO claimed that the customers would be inclined towards electric vehicles if the cost of ownership for these vehicles becomes less than that of ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) cars once the Euro 7 comes into force. Notably, Ashwani also highlighted that the Japanese automaker would “continue to do ICE engines as far as it makes sense for the customer and for the business.”
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