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Nissan Leaf May Be Discontinued, No Replacement Planned

Just like the hybrid-powered Prius, the all-electric Leaf is a running joke in the automotive community. The naysayers may not be aware that Nissan’s compact hatchback was a trendsetting car, a trailblazer for the zero-emission vehicles that followed suit. Introduced in 2010, the compact model sold more than 577k units during its 12-year tenure.
Nissan Leaf 44 photos
Photo: Nissan
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"Leaf has always been about making advanced technology and the thrill of electric driving accessible to everyone,” said Arnaud Charpentier, the vice president for product strategy and pricing in Africa, the Middle East, India, European Union, and Oceania. “The Leaf has been designed around families' needs to offer seamless connectivity and an efficient powertrain.”

He's right in every regard, but on the other hand, the Leaf went on a downward spiral after owners discovered the infamous battery degradation issue. Replacing the 24-kWh battery of early cars isn’t cheap, you know. The Rapidgate scandal comes to mind as well, along with brake issues.

Nissan’s golden goose stopped laying eggs because of… wait for it… Nissan. The Japanese automaker made very few updates in this past decade, updates too small to make a difference against other legacy automakers with all-electric ambitions. Tesla exacerbated things for the Leaf with its cooler designs and superior technology, rendering the compact hatchback passé.

The proliferation of sport utility vehicles made things even worse for the Leaf, which may be discontinued in the next few years, according to Automotive News. The cited publication understands that no replacement is planned, and Nissan may very well discontinue the Leaf nameplate altogether.

The latter would be a mistake on the Japanese automaker’s part. Ever heard of brand awareness? Nissan spent millions over millions of dollars to make this nameplate familiar to prospective customers, and truth be told, Leaf sounds a million times better than Ariya. The curiously-named crossover will spearhead Nissan’s all-electric strategy going forward, yet U.S. dealers have stopped taking orders for the Ariya in May due to the chip shortage.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
Mircea Panait profile photo

After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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