Nissan is set to become the first major Japanese automaker to completely cease creating petrol engines for global markets.
According to reports, Nissan will instead focus on its strategy for electric vehicles, with the only exception being the US, where new internal combustion engines (ICE) will continue to be developed and sold.
Nissan has reportedly already stopped developing petrol engines for European market. This is because the upcoming Euro 7 emissions standards are becoming hugely challenging for automakers, with other countries and markets set to follow suit.
The Japanese automaker says the new regulations will significantly increase the R&D costs of the next-generation combustion engines, making it too expensive to continue production.
Nissan will gradually phase out the production of combustion engines for Japanese and Chinese markets too, focusing its efforts on updating and improving its existing range of engines used in hybrid vehicles.
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For the US, Nissan will continue to develop new petrol engines mostly for the ute and SUV markets where the brand still sees demand for ICE powered vehicles. But there will be a significant drop in investments for engine R&D, which currently stands at about 500 billion yen (about $6.51 billion NZD).
The savings are said to be invested into the development of new electric powertrains and vehicles instead.