After our rather passionate post late last month on diesel not being dead, Nissan has pulled the pin on diesel models across Europe.
The Japanese auto manufacturer confirmed the news yesterday amid tax increases and restrictions on diesel vehicles, for numerous European countries. The cessation of diesel powered vehicles closely matches announcements made by Toyota over the previous months. Investment is being made toward research and development of hybrid/electric vehicles instead.
There has been no specific announcement made for the Australian market, however the belief is that with the EU market turning away from diesel power, that will significantly reduce the amount spent in research and development for Nissan (and, indeed Toyota), on diesel.
“Along with other manufacturers and industry bodies we can see the progressive decline of diesel but we do not anticipate its sudden end in the short-term,” a Nissan spokeswoman told Automotive News Europe.
“At this point in time and for many customers, modern diesel engines will remain in demand and continue to be available within Nissan’s powertrain offering.”
Motoring.com.au spoke with Nissan Australia corporate communications general manager Karla Leach and she has said the withdrawal from diesel in Europe would not effect us as quickly as it has in the EU.
“The announcement is going to have no immediate impact in Australia. The majority of cars we source are from Thailand and the United States. The cars we source out of the UK are Qashqai, which we don’t offer in diesel, and the Leaf,” Leach said.
“The actions out of the UK are potentially a good indication of what’s going to happen in the future as the industry evolves into other alternative energy and fuel sources.
“Across all of our brands, we definitely have a clear focus on electrification but that as an industry step has probably occurred a lot quicker in Europe than Australia.”
It seems that it is now only a matter of time until Nissan has pulled the pin on diesel in the Australian market, despite other manufacturers like Volkswagen continuing to offer and research diesel powered vehicles.
