Nissan ready for Aussie 2035 ICE ban

If Australia commits to a 2035 ban on the sale of new internal combustion engine (ICE) powered vehicles, Nissan will be ready with an all-electric line-up, the company’s local boss has confirmed.

But in the short-term, without legislative emissions certainty, Nissan Australia managing director Adam Paterson can’t secure supply of the company’s new global EV halo model, the Ariya electric SUV.

As we’ve reported, the change of federal government has re-energised the debate over Australia’s transition timing to electric vehicles.

There is a strong push for an emissions reduction regime that phases out the sale of new ICE vehicles by 2035.  

The ACT government has stated that as an intention. Lobby groups such as the Electric Vehicle Council are championing this timeline and some auto brands are in support.

However, the over-arching auto industry lobby group, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), wants a slower timetable and a set of regulations that are technology agnostic. In other words, a longer, slower phase-out of ICE vehicle sales.

Nissan has a foot in both camps. It has a global EV focus, but locally has a reliance on the diesel Navara and petrol SUVs to maintain sales. It sells the LEAF electric hatch here, but like most EVs it is a niche player.

So far the federal government has committed to studying the introduction of fuel-efficiency standards, although it has shed little detail on what to expect.

“We will adhere to the rules that are put in place at the time, so if it’s an ICE ban in 2035 we will adhere to an ICE ban,” Nissan Australia managing director Adam Paterson told carsales.

“We will work with our headquarters to make sure we can operate here under those conditions.”

Paterson said Nissan supports CO2 targets, but with provisos.

“We have to work with the federal government to make sure it’s a target set nationally as opposed to on a state basis.

“We support one that’s a CO2 objective, not one that’s a sales objective by powertrain type.

“So a CO2 objective that allows the manufacturers to deliver that output across a fleet average as we are able to do with the portfolio we have access to.”

Paterson wouldn’t be drawn on whether Nissan was in favour or opposed to a 2035 ICE ban. However, he did urge the federal government to adopt an emissions roadmap aligned with large global markets.

“We don’t have the volume in this market to have specific vehicle development exclusively for this country.”

For now, Australia doesn’t have any national CO2 emissions standards in place to discourage ICE purchase, nor any substantial federal incentives for people to buy EVs. State government have been far more proactive in this area.

All that makes securing models like the Ariya very hard for Paterson and his team. Markets where there is a legislative requirement for EVs get precedence.

First revealed in 2020, the Ariya was initially pencilled in or Australia in 2022. That was shot down late last year and 2023 is far from locked in.

“I don’t have a confirmed date for the Ariya,” Paterson said.

He made it clear regulatory certainty would certainly help in his negotiations with Nissan HQ.

“Pen on paper will absolutely allow us to say ‘this is when the regulation takes place’. We are still discussing, arguing, lobbying to say ‘we believe this to be a reality coming at X date and time’.”

However, Paterson did say the change of government has helped get a little more voice for Nissan’s Australian division.

“There’s been discussions based on the change in government and questions about the platform of the new government even before the election was final and what a change of government would mean in regulatory terms and what the impact would be on us as a manufacturer in the market.”

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