The C SUV segment is the one with the most demand in our market, and although there are dozens of competitors within this category, historically the Nissan Qashqai has been the most prominent until, suddenly, the current Hyundai Tucson and KIA Sportage They have completely stolen the spotlight. The latest generation of the Qashqai has not ‘come in’ as well as the previous ones and the Korean brands have known how to fit better with the tastes and needs of Europeans. However, it seems that Nissan is going to go ahead by betting on two new electric SUVs that aim precisely at the most in-demand segments.
This can be a problem for KIA and Hyundai, which, although they already have an interesting range of electric cars, it is true that they are making themselves wait precisely in the C SUV segment. The Hyundai Tucson and the KIA Sportage are indeed selling better than any other, but at the moment no electric versions of any of them have been launched. And what will surely happen is that they will end up being replaced, after coexisting for some time, by models from the EV and IONIQ range, from KIA and Hyundai respectively. Meanwhile, a report suggests that Nissan is preparing two new 100% electric SUVs. Specifically, based on its best-selling models: the Juke and the Qashqai.
The electric Nissan Qashqai is on the way, and the electric Nissan Juke will also arrive to be a ‘top seller’
This report advances that Nissan will manufacture electric versions of its two best-selling SUVs and that it will do so in the United Kingdom; specifically, at the Sunderland plant. Through Sky News, we have learned that this week will be when the electric Nissan Juke and the electric Nissan Qashqai will be announced. The first focused on competing with options such as the electric KIA Niro and the electric Hyundai KONA, although perhaps with a slightly more compact format; and the second entered the Hyundai Tucson and KIA Sportage segment, but with fully electric mechanics.
They say Nissan plans to commit hundreds of millions of pounds to this project. Today, Nissan is already using the Sunderland production plant in the United Kingdom to manufacture the electric Nissan Leaf. Which was also a pioneer in the commitment to 100% electric vehicles, however, today it does not have a significant demand. Of course, it is also true that Nissan has had some major reliability problems with it due to the configuration of the battery cooling system they opted for.
Also in Sunderland, Nissan is building its next-generation battery factory, which has a planned production capacity of 35 GWh per year. Little by little, the Japanese brand is seeking to regain a leading position in the automobile industry in Europe by betting, now fully, on electric cars. And seeing the demand for its thermal versions marketed so far, the electric Nissan Juke and the electric Nissan Qashqai may be key to recovering market share.
Although Nissan is a Japanese brand, and in recent years we have seen that Japanese companies have leaned towards hydrogen as a potential alternative to pure electric cars, it is true that the influence of Renault in its group, which also includes Mitsubishi, has led Nissan to have a more successful position in this vision of the future. At this point, Toyota has already realized that the ideal is to bet on electric vehicles. Meanwhile, Honda continues in its thirteenth and it seems that they will continue to lose a little more time after their timid bet with the Honda e. At least the Hondra Prologue does aim to be interesting.
