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Nissan to Drop Diesel-powered Vehicles in Europe

At the 2018 Geneva Motor Show, the chief executive officer of Toyota’s European division confirmed the automaker would drop diesel-powered passenger cars in the Old Continent by year’s end. On the one hand, diesels account for less than a tenth of Toyota’s passenger-car sales in Europe, and on the other, gasoline-hybrid vehicles such as the Prius are gaining ground in this part of our big blue planet.
Nissan IMx Concept 16 photos
Photo: Nissan
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But let’s be frank here for a second. Toyota is phasing out diesels in Europe because research & development is getting more and more expensive as emissions standards get harder to meet. Reading between the lines, diesel has to go for Toyota to re-invest its R&D budget in gasoline-hybrid and electric drivetrain technologies.

As you found out from the headline, Nissan took a similar decision. From Automotive News Europe: “a spokeswoman said there would be a gradual withdrawal of diesel cars in Europe,” but in the long term, “Nissan will focus on electrified vehicles.” Why is there some life left in diesel according to Nissan?

“We can see the progressive decline of diesel but we do not anticipate its sudden end in the short-term," the spokesman added, which is true when you think about it. Sales of diesel-powered vehicles in Europe have dropped to below 50 percent of the market, but that’s still a lot if you translate those percentage points to sales figures.

Nissan, for example, moved 128,456 cars powered by diesel in the Old Continent in 2017, accounting for 16 percent of total deliveries. In regard to commercial vehicles such as the Navara pickup and NV200 van, both of them also rely on Satan’s Fuel.

The regulatory crackdown on emissions from diesel-powered cars isn’t restricted to Europe. South Korea is one of the best examples to point out, announcing that it seeks to scrap 2.2 million diesel vehicles by May 2022.

How? By offering consumers incentives to switch to LPG-powered and electrified cars. And why? Because the government seeks to slash 30 percent of fine dust emissions from 2017 levels.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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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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