Nissan officially killed its $500 million electric vehicle manufacturing program at its Canton, Mississippi plant on April 30, 2026. The company cited weakening US EV demand and the need to preserve cash. It's a sharp reversal for a brand that, just four years ago, was targeting 40% US EV sales by fiscal 2030.
The numbers behind the retreat are stark. US EV market share hit a record 10.6% in Q3 2025 — then the federal $7,500 EV tax credit (IRA Section 30D) was eliminated effective October 1, 2025. By Q1 2026, EV share had fallen to 5.8%, per Automotive World. That six-month collapse handed Nissan's finance team a ready-made rationale to pull the plug.
What was planned — and what changed
Canton's EV ambitions shrank gradually before disappearing entirely. An original four-model electric lineup was trimmed to two by early 2025. The company still claimed it was on schedule as late as early 2025, then pushed timelines by a year in July. The April 30 announcement closed the program for good.
The policy whiplash inside Nissan itself was notable. In December 2025, Nissan Americas SVP Ponz Pandikuthira said publicly that the upcoming Xterra "cannot be ICE only" — internal-combustion engine only — and that the powertrain question was "actively being studied." Four months later, the answer arrived: gas and hybrid, full stop, per Automotive Manufacturing Solutions.
The new Canton lineup
In place of the EV program, Canton will anchor a body-on-frame platform shared across at least five pickups and SUVs, with 70% parts commonality and a unified chassis forward of the front seats. Known models include:
- Nissan Xterra — a body-on-frame SUV with a V6 hybrid powertrain, targeting under $40,000, with a 2028 launch - A refreshed Frontier pickup and a new three-row crossover, likely a next-generation Pathfinder
Canton opened in 2003 and currently assembles the Frontier pickup and Altima sedan. The plant has capacity for over 400,000 vehicles annually. In 2025, Nissan sold just 158,500 units of both models combined — putting utilization below 50%. The hybrid SUV pivot is partly a bet on filling that idle capacity.
Where that leaves Nissan's EV lineup
The retreat isn't limited to Mississippi. The Ariya crossover — imported from Japan and hit by a 15% import tariff on top of the lost tax credit — has been discontinued for the 2026 model year, per Edmunds. That leaves the Leaf as Nissan's only US EV. It starts under $30,000, and it's built domestically, but it faces growing pressure from cheaper rivals from Kia, Toyota, and Rivian.
Canton is not among the seven plants targeted for closure or sale under Nissan's broader Re:Nissan restructuring, which aims to cut its global factory network from 17 to 10 facilities by 2027. The plant stays open — just without the electric future once promised for it. Nissan is targeting 1 million annual North American sales by early 2031, and it's betting gas and hybrid SUVs get it there.
