According to the report of American Automobile News, Nissan has suspended its plan to produce the first batch of next-generation electric vehicles in the United States and put aside its plan to invest 500 million dollars in Canton, Mississippi.
According to the report of American Automobile News, in the memo to the supplier on May 17, Nissan said that "in order to improve product competitiveness", it adjusted the "development schedule" of two electric cars and asked the supplier to "stop all research and development activities related to the (electric car) project until further notice".
However, Nissan did not provide a new production date and only said that it would provide the supplier with the latest information in the middle of June. "I think it will take at least six to eight months for [Nissan] to announce its new plan," said a supplier who asked not to be named
Nissan originally planned to start production of the above-mentioned electric cars in June 2026, but has postponed the plan twice so far. The previously announced plan was to start production of new electric cars in November 2026.
J é r é mie Papin, chairman of Nissan Americas, said in an interview with American Auto News last week that Nissan adopted a "pragmatic and positive attitude" with regard to consumers' interest in electric vehicles. "It is important to ensure that we launch the models consumers want at the time consumers need."
Image source: Nissan In the memo, Nissan revealed that it would produce more electric vehicles in the Canton factory, increasing the number to five. According to the data of GlobalData, the code of the fifth model is PZ1L, or it will be Rogue Sport sized crossover models. At the same time, Nissan will change the production sequence of electric vehicles, and will first produce two cross-border models instead of cars.
Sam Fiorani, Vice President of AutoForecast Solutions, said, "Trying to find the right electric vehicle product portfolio and launch electric vehicles suitable for the market at the right time is critical to Nissan's success. This may be the most important decision in Nissan's history."
While postponing the production plan of electric cars in the United States, Nissan is reconsidering its R&D and procurement strategy for electric cars. According to Nissan's medium-term business plan announced at the end of March, its future electric vehicle models will adopt "next generation modular manufacturing", group procurement and battery innovation technology.
Some suppliers said that Nissan's future electric vehicle models will share parts to improve cost efficiency. The supplier said, "They want us to use the same tools to produce all the parts of electric vehicles", while Nissan also needs time to develop product lines in order to adapt to shared parts.
In addition, Nissan is also waiting for the results of the U.S. presidential election in November, because if former U.S. President Trump is elected, his government may abandon the Biden administration's electric vehicle incentive policy.
Nissan's electric vehicle production plan lacks certainty, which makes suppliers who need to free up resources for new projects uneasy. Fiorani pointed out that "these companies, regardless of size, will not bid once they cannot confirm whether the new car project can be put into production."
Papin said that Nissan will soon clarify the production plan of electric vehicles, and "a plan we will propose will be more beneficial to (suppliers)". Papin said that sharing parts among multiple electric vehicles will bring greater economies of scale to suppliers and "reduce" business risks.
Image source: Nissan However, for Nissan and its suppliers, the recent concern is that the automobile production of the Canton plant will decline. In the Canton factory, Nissan produced three models in total. The original plan was to produce 410000 vehicles annually, but a few years ago, its annual production capacity was reduced to about 270000 vehicles.
According to the supplier report reviewed by American Automobile News, the production of the factory is expected to decline by 17% to 204559 vehicles in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025. Among them, the factory will stop production this summer Titan Full size pickup truck, and it was planned to stop production in the second half of 2025 Altima Sedan, but the production of Altima has been postponed.
The supplier mentioned above said, "If we cannot continue to produce Altima, Nissan's supply base in the region may disappear. Because the production is so small, the company will supply goods from other factories to Canton, and Nissan's transportation costs will rise accordingly."
(This article is from Gasgoo)
