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Nissan Will Discontinue Diesel Engines in Europe

Cars, as we know them, are changing. Europe seems to be falling out of love with both the sedan and diesel engines, as Nissan is the latest manufacturer to drop at least one of them.
Nissan Will Discontinue Diesel Engines in Europe 1 photo
Photo: Nissan
As sales of Nissan's diesel-led model range starts to slip, the manufacturer is looking to other technologies. Unlike Toyota, which chopped diesels virtually overnight, the disappearance of dCi engines will happen gradually.

However, the solution is the same as virtually every other automaker: more hybrids, PHEVs and pure EVs. It should be good, considering Nissan already has one of the best selling plug-in cars, the British-made Leaf. However, we don't have any details about specific powertrains at this moment.

While sales of diesel cars are slipping, Nissan doesn't anticipate a sudden drop in the short term. So if you're looking to have a Qashqai dCi, there's still time.

A spokesman for the company said the switch to electrification would happen during each model's renewal. Around since 2014 with a facelifted version launched a year ago, the Qashqai is going to bear the brunt of the change. However, this is unlikely to affect smaller hatchbacks like the Micra.

Britain, Nissan's home away from home, witnessed a decline of about a third in overall diesel sales during the first quarter of 2018. This kind of coincides with Nissan reporting a 35% drop in car demand during the same three months.

It's looking very likely that brand new models will be introduced to fill new niches. For example, partner company Renault has started developing a new crossover. The Kadjar-based mule is believed to be a hybrid, one of about two dozen green cars expected to come within the coming years.

With ample battery production facilities and know-how, Nissan is ideally situated to create an affordable EV crossover, though the Koreans have already gotten there first.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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