Nissan launches pioneering used car upcycling program

Nissan Japan has launched a pioneering automotive upcycling project to extend the life of its vehicles as part of the car-maker’s bid to reduce waste and emissions.

Nissan Japan has launched a pioneering automotive upcycling project to extend the life of its vehicles as part of the car-maker’s bid to reduce waste and emissions.

Focusing on its much-loved Nissan Cube, the new Cube Retro Renovation program will offer buyers the chance to purchase a fully certified used Nissan Cube that has undergone a full restoration by the car-maker.

The box-shaped Cube, which was produced between 1998 and 2019 but never officially sold by Nissan in Australia, will be refurbished and updated for sale with the addition of the car-maker’s latest infotainment system and other more modern parts designed to improve on the old-school hatchback.

Announcing that its official domestic sales division, Nissan Nara Motor Co, has completed a small batch of 20 refurbished Cubes, the Japanese car-maker said it would assess buyer response to the first batch of cars – which goes on sale in Japan today (January 22) – before it decides to make more.

Nissan Japan said that, on average, it spent 700,000 JPY ($A7200) to buy each the worn-out Cube before spending around 850,000 JPY ($A8700) on restoration and customisation.

As well as replacing all the common wear and tear items, some of the new custom parts include updated wheel trims and new parts for the cabin, plus a pair of new headlights, a fresh grille and new graphics for the body.

Nissan says it will sell the refreshed Nissan Cubes for around 1.7 million JPY ($A17,500), and for that price customers get a completely refurbished car with a factory-backed warranty.

It’s hoped that if the upcycling experiment is a success, Nissan will tackle some of its other still-loved modern classics like the Nissan Skyline GT-R, 200 SX and family of Z models.

There’s no word if there are any plans to roll out the program to other markets, but Nissan isn’t the only car-maker experimenting with extending the lifecycle of its cars.

Stellantis will open recycling plants for both Peugeot and Citroen vehicles, with the aim of refurbishing and reselling cars it deems not ready for the scrapheap.

As part of the joint-venture with recycling company Gallo, new remanufacturing hubs will open in France, Belgium and Luxembourg before expanding across Europe.

As well as extending the life of its cars, Stellantis says that managing the lifecycle and disposal of its own vehicles will help it meet its goal of having 40 per cent of recycled materials in its new vehicles by 2030.

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