Nissan’s Best-Selling European SUV May Not Go Fully Electric After All

Tough Times

Across the board, the automotive industry's past year and a half has been tough; no brand has been spared, with everyone seemingly taking hits. However, most of the newsworthy headlines have centered on brands like Nissan, which last year appeared poised for a massive dip, with outlooks grim.

Lucky for them, it seems the tide has shifted a little, with Nissan rebounding a little for 2026. It comes at a cost, though, with measures in place to cut costs and trim down model lines to improve the business moving forward.

No EV Qashqai

While Nissan's belt-tightening is underway, it comes as a shock that one of the projects it has decided not to pursue includes a very popular model in a big market. According to Reuters, the automaker will no longer develop and sell a full-EV version of the Qashqai. The report says that this information came from "six sources with knowledge of the matter."

It seems this move was made as the EV market has shifted and grown, with more affordable rivals from Chinese automakers flooding the European market, which may have given Nissan pause about the Qashqai EV. The plan to electrify Nissan's most popular car in Europe was first announced in 2023 at the Sunderland production plant in England. Sunderland's production facility is actually the biggest car manufacturing plant in Britain.

Playing it Safe

According to the sources, the development of the Qashqai EV was halted sometime last year. These same sources also claim that, should Nissan want to rethink its strategy and continue with the EV Qashqai, the earliest it could hit the market would be around the early 2030s. Currently, the Sunderland plant produces the new Leaf EV and will soon also produce the Juke EV.

The Qashqai is Nissan's best seller in Europe; this one model accounted for 45% of all its sales in Europe during 2025. Interestingly, the Qasqhi was offered in the U.S. as the Rogue Sport back in 2017; it was discontinued in 2022. Currently, the U.S. has the Rogue, which differs in size and class compared to the current Qashqai.

View the full article