A strong case could be made for no foreign car maker having backed the UK automotive industry as strongly or over a longer period of time as Nissan has.

Not only does it have the mighty Sunderland plant, the annual output of which has regularly passed half a million cars, but also the Cranfield engineering centre and the Paddington design studio where many of its global hits, like the Nissan Qashqai and Nissan Juke, have originated. 

Nissan's commitment to the UK goes back decades (next February, it will be 40 years since the deal was signed to create the Sunderland plant), and it's a commitment that will run for many years yet, with future electric car production already secured and Nissan involved in the creation of a battery factory to help supply these cars.

But it's not only EVs that Nissan is investing in in the UK: alongside the Nissan Leaf, the Qashqai and Juke are produced, typically among the very best selling models in the UK and solely ICE-powered, save for a bit of hybrid assistance.

The Qashqai is in its third generation and the Juke in its second, and both should be replaced towards the end of this decade. Given that development times of new cars are typically around four-and-a-half years, now is the time that Nissan will be deciding exactly what form the fourth and third generations of these models respectively will take.

These cars will then stay on sale deep into the 2030s, by which point all new cars sold in most major markets will have to be all-electric; and in the lead up to that date, an increasing majority will have to meet mandated zero-emissions targets or car makers will face fines. In 2030 in the UK, that means 80% of new cars sold in the UK must be electric.

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