Nissan LEAF News

Nissan has revealed a re-booted version of its Juke small SUV, as a purely electric vehicle.The next-generation Juke is described by Nissan as a core model for the European market and was revealed as part of Nissan’s new long-term direction strategy announcement.This announcement also saw the introduction of the next-generation X-Trail mid-size and Rogue small SUVs, both primarily as e-Power hybrid models.Aside from its size-category, the new Juke is a total departure from the previous model, debuting a new distinct design direction which separates it from the rest of the mainline Nissan range.Up front, this includes blocky light fittings and an LED light bar with an illuminated Nissan logo, as well as chunky rhomboid design motifs. Powertrain details are yet to be announced and the interior is yet to be shown.The Juke will live alongside the next-generation Leaf in Nissan’s fully electric line-up, although as they overlap significantly with the Leaf morphing into a crossover, both cars won’t be offered in every market.To that end, Nissan confirmed the new-generation Juke would not be offered in Australia, following its earlier announcement that the existing combustion car will be culled from the line-up.The outgoing Renault Captur-based Juke was one of the least popular options in the small SUV segment, moving just 90 units year-to-date, outselling only the Alfa Romeo Junior and Jeep Avenger in its category.It seems Australia may not even receive the next-generation Leaf for the time being either, with the brand also confirming it has put its plans to introduce the next-gen crossover to our market on hold as Nissan struggles for competitiveness of its electric models in the face of cut-price Chinese rivals.The new Leaf wasn’t all-out cancelled, with the car being described to CarsGuide previously as “indefinitely delayed.”According to the brand the scaling-back of its EV ambitions in Australia is to focus on hybridising its passenger car line-up, where it says 75 per cent of all registrations are, in order to “future-proof” its local line-up.However, with the nameplates being cancelled, this sees Nissan’s line-up reduced to six models for the time being, including the Qashqai small SUV, X-Trail mid-sizer, Patrol off-roader, Navara ute, Ariya mid-size electric SUV and the Z sports car.The future may have more in store for Nissan as it globally re-focuses, and brings more of a spotlight on its thriving range of Chinese joint-venture models, which are imminently earmarked for export across the world.This includes the N7 sedan, but more interestingly for Australia - the Frontier Pro plug-in hybrid ute as an electrified alternative to the Navara and NX8 large SUV, which could serve as an electric and hybrid replacement for the outgoing Pathfinder.Nissan is embattled on two fronts in Australia - facing hefty fines under the recently-introduced new vehicle efficiency standard (NVES) which burdens it with up to $10.76 million in potential fines if it doesn’t buy emissions credits or sell less polluting vehicles before the end of this year.The brand is also facing a sales down-turn as it struggles to find footing with its increasingly expensive range in a more-competitive-than-ever Australian market.Nissan is down 31 per cent year-on-year to the end of March while more value-focused rivals like GWM (up 28.5 per cent), Chery (up 93.8 per cent), and BYD (up 100.1 per cent) and other newcomers like Geely and its Zeekr premium arm, as well as Omoda Jaecoo eat into its market share.Stay tuned for more on Nissan’s plans for the remainder of 2026.

Nissan Australia has confirmed sweeping changes to its model line-up effective immediately, as formerly key models are axed in favour of a more hybrid-focused product mix.The 2026 Nissan Pathfinder large SUV and the Nissan Juke small SUV will be the last of their kind sold in Australia indefinitely, while the brand is also putting a hold on the arrival of the new Nissan Leaf electric small SUV until further notice.Along with dwindling sales, the models’ powertrain options make them incompatible with Nissan Australia’s hybrid-heavy plan, the outgoing regional boss has said.Nissan Oceania Managing Director Andrew Humberstone told CarsGuide the Pathfinder and Juke are being given the axe while the new Leaf, which in its new form is a small SUV, won’t arrive in showrooms for the foreseeable future either.That plan, he said, involves a lot more e-Power electrification to, presumably, balance out the effects of the incoming diesel-powered D27 Nissan Navara ute and the rather large Y63 Nissan Patrol in terms of Australia’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES), which bring fines for models that pollute more and award credits for selling low-emissions vehicles.With Juke and Pathfinder out, Nissan’s line-up is down to six badge names: Qashqai and X-Trail, the small and medium SUVs with hybrid ‘e-Power’ options, Navara and Patrol which fall under the light commercial vehicle category, plus the electric Ariya and the low-volume Nissan Z sports car.“We're going to see a natural dispersion between product and what's coming in, what's going out,” Humberstone told CarsGuide, “so we have to manage that in order to make those tough decisions now for the future.“Juke will no longer be in market, Pathfinder will no longer be in market. Leaf, we're going to, in essence, indefinitely delay at this moment.“We’ll continue to bring in, obviously Navara, which is more NVES-appropriate than the previous version, as is the new Patrol.”Behind Mazda Australia, Nissan is in second place for the largest looming fines as of the most recent February 1, 2026 figures.According to the NVES Regulator, Nissan Australia racked up $10.76m in potential fines between July 1, 2025 and December 31, 2025. Nissan must offset this by selling more low-emission vehicles, or buy credits from other manufacturers, in order to avoid the fines becoming a reality.The plan, according to Humberstone, is to create a model line-up that consists of mostly hybrid variants, thus the introduction of the e-Power-only Qashqai range last year.In addition, a more affordable version of the Nissan X-Trail is set to arrive with 2WD e-Power hybrid in the hopes of increasing hybrid sales of the model.“In addition to that, in the bridging strategy we're focused on when we see circa 75 per cent of all the registrations being, which is within the EV/hybrid space, and that's where we're putting all our energy in the short-term.“So that means the full range of Qashqai now is coming with e-Power technology, which is our hybrid. We’re seeing it with X-Trail… we now want to expand that with a 2x4 hybrid version.”Nissan’s financial situation has been the subject of much speculation, but Humberstone says one of the final things he leaves Nissan Australia with before his departure to a posting in France from April 2026 is this plan to future-proof the model line-up.He said the tumultuous state of the industry means difficult short-term decisions are needed to put the business in a better position in the medium- and long-term.“I would say even within the next six, seven months, you're going to start seeing the benefits of the work. The natural cleansing needs to be done. The sooner you do that, the better. “I believe our timing was perfect, given the volatility of what's been going on all over the place, and the number of competitors and more recent stuff that's going off at the moment around the globe.“We're here to stay in Oceania, and we're committed to the market. There's product investment being made. It's done. So there's no speculation on that.”Humberstone’s replacement is Steve Milette, who was President of Nissan Canada for more than five years, and is currently Division Vice President for Dealer Network Development, Customer Resources, Training and Customer Experience for Nissan and Infiniti’s entire North America region.He takes up the much shorter title of Managing Director of Nissan Oceania on April 1, and is expected to continue overseeing the plan to increase Nissan Australia’s hybridisation of the model range.

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The fourth-generation Nissan Leaf has been detailed, with an Australian arrival already confirmed and a new SUV-style body shape for the car that put Nissan at the forefront of electric cars more than a decade ago.The 2026 Nissan Leaf will come to Australia in the 2026 Japanese fiscal year, or between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027.When it arrives, it will boast more than 600km in range thanks to a large battery, a respectable 160kW/355Nm power and torque output and a striking departure in styling from the Leaf hatchback we know.Those range and power figures are for the longer-range 75kWh battery variant, with a smaller 52kWh battery version set to join it.The shorter-ranged Leaf is yet to be rated for range, though even the 600km+ figure is estimated for Japan and Europe, so could change before its launch.Depending on the market, the size of the new Leaf varies, but the Japanese version will be 4360mm long, 1810mm wide and 1550mm tall with a 2690mm wheelbase, putting it roughly in the same playing field as the new Kia EV3.An estimated drag coefficient of 0.26Cd goes some way to explaining its impressive range and slippery smooth design, but even with the sloping rear the Leaf can hold 420L in its boot, according to Nissan.It’s a big step up for tech over the current Nissan Leaf e+ and its 385km WLTP range, although outputs remain pretty similar - the e+ coming in at 160kW/340Nm.The Leaf’s DC fast charging is now 150kW, with Nissan saying it can charge from 10 to 80 per cent in “as little as 35 minutes”.Inside, the new Leaf gets a big redo, doing away with the dated interior and bringing in a pair of large screens, either dual 12.3-inch or dual 14.3-inch units depending on the grade.Other niceties include a 10-speaker Bose sound system, ambient lighting, wireless phone charging, wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, but some shortcut menus and physical controls remain for ease of use.More details for the new Leaf will be confirmed for each market closer to their launch dates, with the first to be North America.The original Leaf started production in 2010 but only arrived in Australia in mid-2012. The second-gen was an overhauled version of the first and it landed here in mid-2019. For a time the Leaf was the world's best-selling EV until it was toppled by the Tesla Model 3.

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Nissan has taken the extraordinary step of addressing speculation that the company is teetering on the verge of closing down globally. Outlining specific details of its Australian-market strategy that has been nearly 12 months in the making, Nissan Oceania Vice President and Managing Director, Andrew Humberstone, announced that the brand is going nowhere but up.