No more new petrol and diesel engines from Nissan.

Nissan has become the first Japanese automotive company to structure a disengagement from internal combustion engine development.The decision was alluded to, as the company announced its latest quarterly earnings.

The Japanese industry faces significant disruption as China, Europe, and parts of the United States rapidly demand more electrified powertrain choices.

For Nissan, the issue is complicated by its bakkie business. As part of the broader Alliance (including Renault and Mitsubishi), there is shared scale and electric powertrain development. But bakkie customers in most Nissan markets are still very content with large capacity V6 and V8 engines. Not to mention, turbodiesels.

Despite the bakkie business being core to Nissan’s product portfolio, its R66bn R&D budget will now be channelled to powertrain technologies beyond internal combustion.

As the only part of the Alliance with a credible presence in North America, Nissan can’t rely on Renault or Mitsubishi to share the burden of sustaining large capacity bakkie and SUV engines. Ironically, Renault will continue to share some of those profits, which flow to Paris, regardless of its negligible contribution to North American bakkie design and engine development.

There will be some future evolution of the current petrol engines for Nissan’s American customers. But for the brand’s global turbodiesel customers, things don’t look that great.

What about South Africa? As a global production hub for Navara, there is no question that Nissan’s announcement will trigger greater urgency concerning hybridization. Loyal followers of the Navara nameplate can also suspend any optimism about a notable improvement in the current diesel engine portfolio.

If the local industry and supply chain cannot create momentum around batteries and electric motors, Nissan South Africa could run into issues later this decade. Nissan will continue to tweak the engine architectures it has, but don’t expect any breakthrough technology shifts with its petrol and diesel engine line-ups.

Search for a used Nissan Navara here