Published on 4/25/2026
The Japanese company Nissan is betting on China as a major market and center for development and export in its plan to return to growth, after years of pressure on its sales globally, especially in China, the United States and Japan.
At the 2026 Beijing Auto Show, the company unveiled two new concepts of SUVs operating with new energy technologies, in a move that it said reflects the acceleration of product launches in China and the country’s role as one of its main markets and a global center for innovation and export.
According to what it announced, Nissan aims to sell one million cars annually in China by the fiscal year 2030, with exports from Chinese factories becoming an essential part of its global strategy, in a clear shift from dealing with China as a local market only to using it as a base for supplying other markets with vehicles.
According to Bloomberg, the company plans to export hundreds of thousands of cars made in China to foreign markets, at a time when it is trying to regain its momentum after the decline of its share in the Chinese market compared to local companies specializing in electric and hybrid cars.
China first
Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa said that China is not only a highly competitive local market, but also a source of innovation that helps the company create value and new experiences for customers in China and global markets, adding that China is “pivotal” in translating this trend into safer and easier-to-use products.
At the Beijing exhibition, the company presented the concepts of the Urban SUV PHEV and the Terrano PHEV, and the production versions of them are scheduled to be unveiled within a year. It also intends to introduce three additional models of new energy vehicles in China during the same period.
This represents a shift in Nissan’s rhythm within the largest car market in the world, as the company seeks to approach the pace of Chinese competitors who have shortened the development cycle of electric and hybrid vehicles, and linked competition to the speed of updating designs and software and lowering prices.
Nissan views models such as the electric N7, Frontier Pro plug-in hybrid, N6 and NX8 as the nucleus of a new attack in China since 2025, combining its international quality standards with the speed of local development and advanced Chinese technologies.
Export base
In Nissan’s new plan, China is no longer only a market for testing products, but also an export center. The company intends to export the N7 to Latin America and ASEAN countries, and plans to export the “Frontier Pro” to Latin America, ASEAN and the Middle East. It also aims to send the NX8 and the production version of the Terrano plug-in hybrid car to selected global markets.
Nissan announced in December 2025 that its joint venture in China, Zhengzhou Nissan, would launch the Frontier Pro and Frontier Pro rechargeable vehicles, noting that they are the first two Nissan pickup trucks to be designed, developed and manufactured in China for global export.
The company says that the rechargeable Frontier Pro is the first rechargeable hybrid pickup truck from Nissan, and that the 2025 version that it revealed at the Shanghai exhibition provides an electric range of up to 135 kilometers, while the N7 provides a range of up to 635 kilometers, with plans to export the two models confirmed later.
This path gives Nissan an opportunity to use the cost of development and production in China to enhance its competitiveness in emerging markets, especially in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, where demand for electric and hybrid cars is increasing but price sensitivity is still high.
Tough competition
Nissan’s bets come in a highly transformed market, as data from the China Automobile Manufacturers Association showed that sales of new energy vehicles in the country rose 34.9% during the first nine months of 2025 to about 11.23 million units, equivalent to 46.1% of total car sales in China.
China’s exports of new energy vehicles also increased by 89.4% during the same period to 1.76 million units, an indication of Chinese companies moving from local control to increasing export pressure on international companies.
Press data and estimates show that the Chinese consumer is becoming more inclined towards local brands that are cheaper and faster to update, as the Associated Press said that the demand for luxury foreign cars in China is declining as consumers turn to Chinese brands that are lower in price and more attractive in terms of technology and comfort.
The agency stated that the share of Chinese brands in passenger car sales reached approximately 70% in the first 11 months of 2025, while the share of Japanese brands reached about 10%, which illustrates the scale of the challenge facing Nissan and other Japanese companies in the Chinese market.
Rescue plan
China is at the heart of the “Re:Nissan” plan that the company announced to revive performance and restore profitability. Nissan says that the plan aims to achieve a positive operating profit in the automotive sector and positive free cash flows by the fiscal year 2026, by reducing costs, redefining the product and market strategy, and strengthening partnerships.
In its long-term vision announced in April 2026, the company said that it would make Japan, the United States, and China leading markets to support global size and competitiveness. It would also reduce its global portfolio from 56 to 45 models, and increase the options for payment systems in each model.
Nissan is suffering from extensive financial and operational pressures, as it announced the reduction of about 15% of its global workforce, or about 20,000 employees, and the reduction of the number of its factories from 17 to 10 factories as part of the recovery plan, after losses and a decline in sales in China and other countries, according to the Associated Press.
