The future of the Nissan Micra is being questioned by the Japanese manufacturer as the relevancy of subcompact hatchbacks are diminishing in the global market. A new report reveals that the brand is turning to Renault to see if it’s worthwhile making a successor to the current hatch.
As reported by Auto Express, the next Nissan Micra is likely to make a switch to a pure-electric offering. The current model has struggled in terms of sales next to the likes of the Volkswagen Polo and Ford Fiesta with its European figures falling from 86 000 units in 2017 to less than 40 000 in 2020.
It also notes that with the rising costs involved with developing small combustion-engined cars for upcoming proposed Euro 7 emissions regulations, the product may no longer be profitable. Nissan’s European boss Guillaume Cartier said that the brand is not yet ready to commit to a successor for the Nissan Micra and admitted that it is investigating which Alliance resources might allow it to build a continuation model.
“The core business today and tomorrow is crossover – Juke, Qashqai, X-Trail, Ariya, and the new car that we’ve spoken about [the Leaf-replacing crossover EV],” he said. “That’s already five cars. Then for each car we have to make sure that we have the depth – enough powertrains to match the volumes we have. We want to make sure that this core, in terms of volume per model, is increasing.
“Then we use the Alliance. We will work with the Alliance for our full line-up of LCVs. But one topic remains open, and this is the entry point of the line-up. The key point is to say, ‘How can we offer something, potentially with the Alliance, that will lure people to enter into the Nissan brand, and then enjoy to go model by model?’ That’s the one that we are considering. That’s exactly the question that we have to solve.”
When asked if the car in question would need to be electric, Cartier said, “Yes, that’s absolutely key.”
