Climate Policy Engagement: Nissan receives a grade of D+ in InfluenceMap’s assessment of corporate engagement on climate change policy, indicating mixed engagement with Paris-aligned policy.
Forecasted 2029 Production: Data from S&P Global Mobility forecasts that by 2029 31% of Nissan’s production will be battery electric vehicles (BEVs), alongside 1% plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), 40% ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles, 27% hybrids and 0% fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs).
This compares negatively to the IEA’s 1.5°C scenario, which estimates that 57.5% of all globally produced cars must be either BEV or FCEV by 2030 to meet the 1.5°C global temperature goal.
The graphic below compares the company’s climate policy engagement score with the company’s forecasted percentage production of zero-emission vehicles by 2029 (independent analysis of S&P Global Mobility data). The bubble size represents the relative proportion of vehicle production compared to other major global automakers.
Climate Lobbying Overview: Nissan has mixed positions on numerous climate policies globally in 2021-22. The company has mixed engagement on policies promoting the electrification of transport, including opposing a UK zero-emission vehicle mandate, and higher-range GHG standards for vehicles in the US, while supporting a mid-range increase. In addition, Nissan retains memberships to several obstructive trade associations in Japan and globally.
The full climate policy engagement profile of Nissan is available here.
Internal decarbonization targets: Nissan has set a target of "achieving carbon neutrality across the company’s operations and the life cycle of its products by 2050." The company has also pledged that "100% of all-new vehicle offerings... (will be) electrified... in Japan, China, the U.S. and Europe by the early 2030s." It is unclear whether Nissan's electrification commitment refers to offering only electrified powertrains, or offering at least one electrified version of every new model. In February 2023, Nissan further announced it will introduce 27 electrified models, including 19 EVs, by 2030, with aims for 98% of sales in Europe and 58% in Japan to be electrified by 2026, along with 40% of sales in the US by 2030, with "electrified" appearing to include hybrid vehicles. Nissan is also a part of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, which announced a new platform in January 2022 to release 35 new EV cars in 2030 by sharing each other’s platforms.
The vehicle production data for Nissan can be filtered by region using the dropdown below
Nissan’s forecasted fleet composition by technology: In 2029, 31% of Nissan’s production is forecast to be battery electric vehicles, compared to 4% in 2021. For plug in hybrids (PHEVs) increase marginally from 0% to 1% from 2021 to 2029, whereas for other hybrids, this rises from 9% to 27% in the same time period. For ICE vehicles, this decreases significantly from 88% in 2021 to 40% in 2029. This is in contrast to the IEA’s 1.5°C road transport scenario, which requires 57.5% of all light-duty vehicle sales in 2030 to be either BEV or FCEV to decarbonize road transport in line with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C goals.
The ‘Vehicle Technology’ graph below outlines the previous and forecasted technology of vehicles produced by Nissan from 2021-2029 using Iindependent analysis of S&P Global Mobility data.
Nissan’s forecasted vehicle size: The proportion of light commercial vehicles, medium vehicles and small vehicles produced by Nissan in its entire fleet between 2021 and 2029 is estimated to decrease from 19% to 14% for light commercial vehicles, 26% to 17% for medium vehicles, while production of small vehicles is estimated to marginally increase from 7% to 8%. Large vehicle production is estimated remain constant at 12% between 2021-2029, while SUVs are projected to increase from 37% to 48% in the same time period. The AR6 WGIII report found that vehicle size plays a major role in determining vehicle emissions, with larger vehicles a significant driver of increased emissions.
The ‘Vehicle Size’ graph below outlines the previous and forecasted future size of vehicles produced by Nissan from 2021-2029 using independent analysis of S&P Global Mobility data.
Nissan’s zero-emission production & the IEA's 1.5°C scenario: Production data for Nissan in 2029 forecasts that 31% of all its vehicles will be battery-electric vehicles (BEVs), and 0% fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). This compares negatively to the IEA’s 1.5°C scenario for road transport, which assumes 57.5% of all light-duty vehicle sales in 2030 will need to be zero-emission vehicles (BEVs or FCEVs) to reach global net-zero by 2050.
The below graph compares automakers’ previous and forecasted production of zero-emission vehicles (BEVs and FCEVs), with the trend line extrapolated from the IEA’s 1.5°C scenario for road transport in 2030.
The 'Fleet ZEV' graph below provides a simplified model of the companies’ current and future emissions based on combining EU vehicle emissions data with forecasted light-duty vehicle production data supplied by IHS, broken down by manufacturer, vehicle size, and technology type.
This model is not a definitive prediction of future emissions values for major vehicle manufacturers, but an estimation of future tailpipe emissions made using the best available emissions data. Future real-world emissions will likely vary depending on region, as well as granular differences between different vehicles that are not captured by the model. Additionally, as the model uses EU data, where produced cars typically have amongst the lowest CO2 emissions globally, it likely provides an underestimate of current and future CO2 emissions per manufacturer. Full details are available in the methodology.
The vehicle emissions data for Nissan, can be filtered by region using the dropdown below
The 'Fleet Efficiency' graph below provides a simplified model of the companies’ current and future emissions based on combining EU vehicle emissions data with forecasted light-duty vehicle production data supplied by IHS. The three lines represent the estimated lab emissions (modeled on EU testing data) and estimated real-world emissions (based on research from the ICCT) for the company, alongside the green line, representing the IEA's well below 2 degree pathway in their Sustainable Development Scenario (SDS) for road transport
The graph below compares the simplified emissions model data for the company from 2021-29, with other model data for other major global automakers.
