Nissan has several electric cars overseas, including the 2027 Nissan Leaf and Nissan Juke, but has ruled them all out for Australia

Nissan Australia is ignoring its growing number of electric vehicles (EVs) available in other markets and sticking with just one in Australia, the Ariya mid-size SUV.

Earlier this year the Japanese carmaker revealed the latest-generation of its Juke small SUV and confirmed it’s going all-electric.

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“The all-electric Juke will be built at our Sunderland plant in the UK and has been developed primarily as a Europe-focused EV,” said a Nissan Australia spokesperson.

“At this stage, there are no plans to introduce the model in Australia.”

Additionally Nissan has recently launched a new-generation version of the Leaf, which is now also a small SUV. It and the new Juke are based on the same dedicated electric platform.

There were initially plans for the new-generation Leaf to come to Australia but these have been put on hold.

“With respect to the next-generation Leaf, we have decided to postpone its introduction to Australia following a review of the local business case,” said a Nissan Australia spokesperson.

At this stage it’s unclear when the new Leaf will now launch in Australia.

Beyond the new Juke and Leaf EVs, Nissan also offers a number of other small electric models in other markets. These include the Nissan Micra, which is essentially a rebadged Renault 5, as well as the Nissan Sakura electric kei car in Japan.

Nissan Australia has provided no plans to bring either small EV to Australia at this stage and it’s unclear whether this will ever change.

“Nissan remains committed to electrification in Australia through a range of technologies, including battery-electric vehicles such as Ariya, as well as our e-POWER hybrid technology,” said a Nissan Australia spokesperson.

“We recently launched the updated Qashqai with our latest e-Power hybrid system and will add a 4x2 e-Power X-Trail model to the range in just a few months.”

The Nissan Ariya was first revealed in 2019 and launched in certain markets in 2022. It didn’t launch in Australia until 2025.

It has received a facelift in other markets, which hasn’t arrived in Australia yet.

Although Nissan can’t provide a timeline for when the new Leaf will launch and has ruled out the new Juke EV, the Ariya might not be the only Nissan EV in Australia for long.

The Japanese carmaker currently has its eye on importing models made by its Chinese joint-venture company, Dongfeng Nissan.

These models include the N7 electric sedan and NX8 electric SUV, as well as the Frontier Pro plug-in hybrid ute.

No confirmation of what exact models are coming to Australia and when has been provided yet, however it’s likely that an announcement will come before the end of 2026 or in early 2027.

Regardless, Nissan needs to introduce more low-emission vehicles as it already has more than $10 million owing to the federal government for not meeting the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) CO2 emissions target for vehicles imported.

Nissan can either pay this fine or risk it doubling if it misses the deadline. Alternatively, it can trade credits with other carmakers that are under the threshold or introduce more low-emissions vehicles and beat the CO2 target the following year.

It’s worth noting the CO2 targets get stricter every year and ultimately the only vehicle that currently produces zero grams of tailpipe emissions is an EV.