- Nissan is considering delaying the launch of EVs at its Canton, Mississippi, plant.
- The Mexico-built Infiniti QX50 and QX55 compact SUVs are also getting the chop.
- The company is wary of Trump’s plans to impose tariffs on Mexico and cut EV credits.
The car industry is waiting with bated breath to hear what President Donald Trump has planned, and how his policies might turn their own plans upside down. And with billions of dollars at stake Nissan has decided to kill two models and potentially delay others rather than risk pouring profits down the drain.
One of the industry’s big concerns is that Trump follows through on a promise to scrap the $7,500 tax credit that is undoubtedly a major driver behind American EV sales climbing 7.3 percent in 2024.
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Nissan was planning to build four new EVs at its Canton, Mississippi, plant starting as early as 2027, but might now delay their introduction due to worries that axing EV tax credits could decimate demand.
“If they pull back on the $7,500 credit, we know the rate of adoption is going to slow,” Ponz Pandikuthira, Nissan’s chief planning officer, told Bloomberg. “We certainly don’t want to be in a position of building models there’s no demand for.”
The report says Nissan could push back the debut of the EVs, and limit their production at Canton while increasing production of hybrids scheduled to be built at its Smyrna, Tennessee, site. Nissan’s sales have been badly affected recently by its lack of hybrid offerings, while rival automakers have capitalized on the trend for vehicles with electrically assisted ICE powertrains.
“We’re staying closely tuned to what happens with regulations,” Pandikuthira told Bloomberg. “We can decide which ones to ramp up and which ones to slow down.”
Unconnected to the tax credit fears, but surely connected to worries about other President Trump policies, is Nissan’s decision to axe two Infiniti models built in Mexico before Trump has a chance to impose a 25 percent tariff on vehicles imported to the US from Mexico and Canada, a measure he has threatened to implement on February 1st.
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The QX50 and its QX55 fastback brother, built at a Mercedes-Nissan plant in Mexico, are both getting the chop this December. Nissan claims they’re being killed for slow sales, though figures showed QX50 sales actually grew by 7.9 percent in 2024. The QX55, however, definitely needs a bullet: its sales sank 31.1 percent last year. One rumor is that Nissan could offer an Infiniti-badged Rogue hybrid to replace the QX twins.
Nissan was already having a tough time before Trump’s arrival and plans to cut up to 2,000 jobs in the US, according to a Japanese media report cited by Bloomberg, plus another 7,000 around the world. The automaker announced in December that it is merging with Honda to help battle the threat from Chinese carmakers.
