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Nissan bringing Qashqai, Rogue hybrid to US

Nissan will be expanding its crossover range here in the United States, introducing the popular European-market Qashqai, alongside a hybridized version of the Rogue. Nissan's Kyushu, Japan factory, meanwhile, will churn out 100,000 gas-powered Rogues to capitalize on hot demand here in the United States. The Kyushu move, at least, seems like a smart one, considering just how hot the compact Rogue is. "We haven't hit the ceiling [on Rogue] yet. We have more opportunity there if we can get our dealers more," Fred Diaz, Nissan's senior VP of sales and marketing, told Automotive News. Amping up production in Kyushu will finally mean the end of the first-generation Rogue, though, now known as the Rogue Select. Somehow, we doubt many tears will be shed. AN cites "two sources familiar with Nissan's future product" in its report on the Qashqai and Rogue Hybrid, although both moves are a bit strange at first glance. Both vehicles play in the same part of the market, and are both based on the Renault-Nissan Common Module Family platform. As for the Rogue Hybrid, well, we know what happened the last time Nissan tried to add an electric motor and battery pack to one of its crossovers. Plus, we've heard this rumor before. Nissan, though, seems to think both moves make a lot of sense. While the Qashqai and Rogue are closely related, the Euro-market model is smaller – 10 inches shorter and two inches narrower – making it less versatile, and it wears more handsome sheetmetal. Expect Nissan to field it as such, aiming at buyers that want a CUV for the lifestyle, rather than the versatility, Automotive News reports. There's a lot less information on the Rogue Hybrid, aside from AN reporting that it will hit the market next year. As for potential powertrains, mum's the word. The gas-powered Rogue uses a 2.5-liter four-cylinder, which is the same size as the gas-engine found in the dead-but-still-warm Pathfinder Hybrid. While we doubt it's as simple as a drag and drop, it seems like Nissan's most recent hybrid powertrain is the obvious choice for the upcoming Rogue. What do you think? Will the Qashqai be as big of a hit in the US as it is in Europe and Australia? Is a Rogue Hybrid such a smart move considering the tremendous failure of the Pathfinder Hybrid? Speak up in Comments. Related Video:

Mitsubishi Outlander rumored to get Nissan engine, Rogue Sport to get PHEV

A report in the Japanese business daily Nikkei, picked up by Automotive News, said Mitsubishi anticipates using a Nissan engine in the next-generation Outlander headed our way later this year. If the report comes true, the engine swap would be a first for the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance partners outside of Japanese kei cars. Mitsubishi engineers will have an easier time slotting in a Nissan engine as the next-gen Outlander gives up its GS platform — an architecture Mitsubishi co-developed with Daimler Chrysler almost 20 years ago — to move to a modified version of the CMF platform that supports the Nissan Rogue and Qashqai, our Rogue Sport.    Last December, Auto Express spoke to Ponz Pandikuthira, NissanÂ’s European vice president of product planning. The exec said Nissan had two hybrid powertrains under consideration for the next-generation Qashqai, the first being Nissan's serial hybrid ePower system that's fared well in Japan where overall speeds are low, but that might not be suited to Europe's higher average speeds. As for a PHEV, Pandikuthira said, "WeÂ’re not pursuing a big plug-in hybrid strategy. On some car lines weÂ’ll try it out, but the business case for plug-in hybrids is not very good." Completing the round-turn, Nikkei said Mitsubishi would supply its PHEV for the compact Nissan, making the Qashqai the car line that gets the tryout. If that happens, and assuming Nissan brings it here, the Rogue Sport would be Nissan's first PHEV in the U.S. Nissan has tended to delay updating the Rogue Sport to Qashqai spec, so depending on when a PHEV version arrives, it could be the only hybrid in Nissan's U.S. fleet since the Rogue Hybrid retired for the 2020 model year.  The platform and engine exchange would have been planned before Nissan's troubles over the past 18 months, but they represent the alliance's growing effort for greater synergy and lower costs. One supposed tactic going forward comes from the Volkswagen Group playbook, identifying a brand's expertise and putting the brand in charge of developing that expertise for the alliance, the same way the Volkswagen brand develops low-cost platforms and Audi runs R&D for the group. We'll know more about plans afoot at the Franco-Japanese trio when the alliance unveils its new midterm business plan perhaps as soon as this month. Related Video:      

Nissan sells 100,000 Leaf EVs worldwide

Nissan sold 22,610 Leaf electric vehicles in the US last year, but the bigger story (literally) is how the company is selling the EV around the world. After selling the 99,999th Leaf to a woman in Virginia, Nissan sold the 100,000th Leaf to a man named Brett Garner in the UK. For the record, it took Nissan just about three years and one month to reach that mark, since the first Leafs were sold in December 2010. On a global scale, Nissan says the Leaf has a 45 percent market share among all the electric vehicles available. The car is available in 35 countries, but the bulk - as of the end of December, 42,122 units - have been sold in the US. That 99,999th Leaf was sold to Amy Eichenberger, a project manager overseeing major capital investments for the University of Virginia in Charlottesville (pictured below). Garner owns a dental practice in Fareham. You can read their gushing quotes about their new EVs in the Nissan press releases below. If you add in all of the electric vehicles that Nissan and partner Renault have sold (90,000 as of March, the last time official numbers were available), then the 100,000 was topped a while ago. Of course, electric vehicles remain a small portion of Nissan's global sales. In fiscal 2012, Nissan sold 4.9 million vehicles around the world. Still, 100,000 Leafs out of 4.9 million cars is far better than zero. Nissan LEAF global sales reach 100,000 units Nissan LEAF is best-selling EV in history with 45% market share The 100,000th customer is a British dentist After revolutionizing passenger vehicle segment Nissan is electrifying LCVs with the e-NV200 YOKOHAMA, Japan (January 20, 2014) – The 100,000th all-electric Nissan LEAF is being bought by a customer in the United Kingdom. The Nissan LEAF, the world's first mass-produced zero emissions vehicle, remains the best-selling EV in history with a 45% market share. Since its launch in December 2010 Nissan has seen the pace of sales increase consistently and 2013 was a record year. The LEAF is now available to customers in 35 countries on four continents. In Norway, the Nissan LEAF topped sales charts, out-selling conventional gasoline powered vehicles in October 2013. The 100,000th Nissan LEAF customer is Dr. Brett Garner, the owner of a dental practice in Fareham in the UK. "I have chosen my Nissan LEAF because I am very interested in its running costs," Dr. Garner said. "The cost of ownership such as maintenance, insurance and charging also convinced my wife.