A further blow for diesel

The great debate about the future of diesel engines was brought into sharp relief this week with Nissan’s decision not to build the new X-Trail diesel models in the United Kingdom.

Uncertainty over Britain’s postBrexit arrangements and the slump of diesel-powered vehicle sales have been given as factors in the decision to build the new dieselengined X-Trail SUV in Japan rather than at Nissan’s Sunderland plant.

It was a major blow to Britain’s motor industry, although Nissan says it will continue building the Qashqai SUV and the new Nissan Leaf EV models at the plant in the north of England, which employs around 7000 people.

No doubt the uncertainty over how businesses will operate after Britain’s exit from the European Community contributed to Nissan’s decision, but longer-term issues confronting the motor industry worldwide will also have played a part.

The move away from diesels has

been particularly sharp in European markets in the wake of Volkswagen’s dieselgate scandal.

Tougher environmental regulations have forced manufacturers to clean up their engines, but the sale of diesel models in the UK fell from around 40 per cent to around 33 per cent last year. Fears about global warming hang over all of these types of decisions.

Complicating matters further is the global disruption the motor industry faces with the moves to autonomous and electric vehicles, not to mention the upheaval within the Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi Alliance with the jailing of its architect, Carlos Ghosn, in Japan.

The X-Trail decision is just one of dozens of factors impacting on the worldwide industry, whatever happens with Brexit.