07:00 02-05-2026

Nissan abandons EV plans at Canton plant, brings back the Xterra

Nissan is rethinking its US EV strategy. According to Automotive News, on April 30, 2026 the company informed its American suppliers that it was dropping plans to build electric vehicles at the Canton plant in Mississippi.

The project dates back to 2021, when Nissan said it would retool the site to produce EVs and batteries for both Nissan and Infiniti models. The target was ambitious: 200,000 electric vehicles sold in the US by 2028. That scenario is now being pushed aside.

Instead of pure EVs, the 4.7-million-square-foot plant will lean again on combustion-engined trucks and SUVs, plus electrified versions. The first major arrival will be a revived Nissan Xterra, built in the US on a new body-on-frame platform and slated to debut in late 2028.

The same architecture will then underpin a new three-row SUV and the next-generation Nissan Frontier. According to Automotive News, the platform could spawn at least five models in total. The logic for Nissan is straightforward: shared hardware, local production, and a focus on segments where American demand still holds up better than for many EVs.

Nissan’s electric cars have been undershooting expectations in the US. One casualty of the line-up review is the Ariya, which is set to be pulled from the market later this year. Even so, Nissan is not walking away from electrification altogether: the Xterra is expected to get an electrified powertrain, and e-Power is likely to become a more central technology for the brand.

The US remains Nissan’s key recovery market. The company wants to be selling around one million vehicles a year in North America by early 2031, and local assembly should help protect both pricing and margins.

Nissan is not alone in this U-turn. A growing number of automakers are easing off the EV throttle and paying closer attention to hybrids, EREVs, and combustion engines paired with electric motors. Electric cars aren’t going anywhere, but in the US the market is making it clear: there is no single right technology for everyone just yet.