Nissan to abandon diesels in Europe

It will move all resources to bolstering its EV lineup.

The fallout of Volkswagen's diesel scandal continues, as Nissan becomes the latest automaker to abandon the diesel market.

According to the Japan Times, Nissan will stop selling diesel passenger vehicles in Europe while doubling down on hybrids and electric cars. Nissan saw a downturn in diesel sales following Volkswagen's highly publicized diesel emissions cheating scandal, but has announced plans to have electrified cars comprise half its sales by 2025.

Nissan has a number of diesel models, including spark-less variants of the Note, Qashqai (sold in the US as the Rogue Sport), X-Trail (Rogue), Micra, and Pulsar available in Europe. However, it is unclear whether trucks like the Navara pickup would continue to offer a diesel option or not.

Rival Toyota, for example, announced in October that it is leaving the diesel market when it comes to passenger cars, but would retain the torquier motors for its trucks like the HiLux and Land Cruiser. Toyota's latest models, like the C-HR crossover, already forgo diesel engines as an option. For its part, Subaru also plans to phase out diesel cars by 2020.

Of all the Japanese automakers, Nissan was most committed to diesel. Now it joins companies like FiatChrysler, which announced it would stop producing diesels in February.

Image by Ronan Glon.