Nissan’s ongoing survival plans have seen the company enter discussions with rivals to build future hybrids based on Nissan’s e-Power hybrid tech, according to a new report.
As Nissan continues to search for solutions to its current financial issues, a report has surfaced suggesting the brand may team up with rivals, using Nissan technology to underpin cars from other brands.
A report from US publication, Automotive News, suggests that Nissan has entered discussions with rival automakers to underpin future models based on the Nissan X-Trail, a version of which sells as the Rogue in North America.
While the Rogue is available with both a regular petrol engine and as a hybrid model, it’s the Rogue Hybrid that’s of most interest for the rebranded products.
While not confirmed by Nissan USA, a spokesperson for the brand said that the Japanese car maker “remains open to dialogue that delivers strategic, complementary market opportunities to our core model development efforts."
Nissan’s e-Power technology differs from other brands in being a series hybrid, with a petrol engine used as a generator only, charging a small battery that then powers an electric motor.
Unlike other hybrid systems that operate as series-parallel hybrids, and can use their petrol engines as either a generator or to drive the wheels, Nissan’s system is only driven electrically.
A refreshed Rogue is due to launch in the United States in late 2026 with a third-generation version of the e-Power drivetrain with lower fuel consumption and improved emissions.
Documents shared with Automotive News by Nissan suppliers suggest that Nissan’s partnership plans are aimed at delivering a production boost for the Rogue of over 43 per cent.
With a partnership in place, Nissan forecasts building as many as 161,633 Rogues (and its related offshoot model) by the 2023 financial year. Without the project, that forecast drops to 112,561 vehicles.
Along with Nissan, neither Ford nor Stellantis confirmed the model-sharing program.
Nissan’s Tennessee plant, where the Rogue is built for the USA (but not Australia, which sources X-Trails from Japan), is currently operating at 51 per cent of its potential production capacity, according to industry analysts.
With Nissan having already announced plant closures around the world in an effort to stem losses, the brand will now be closely monitoring the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of its remaining production sites.
The information on the Rogue model-sharing program comes from industry insiders close to the project who named Ford and Stellantis in the negotiations and said that General Motors was not one of Nissan’s potential partners.
Alongside the Rogue/X-Trail e-Power hybrid, Nissan has confirmed plans to introduce a plug-in hybrid medium SUV, wearing the Rogue name, but based on the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV.
While the X-Trail and Outlander share a common platform as part of an alliance between the two brands, the Rogue PHEV is expected to arrive as a very lightly restyled version of the Outlander, and not a version of the Rogue body over Mitsubishi’s powertrain package.
Kez Casey migrated from behind spare parts counters to writing about cars over ten years ago. Raised by a family of automotive workers, Kez grew up in workshops and panel shops before making the switch to reviews and road tests for The Motor Report, Drive and CarAdvice.
