Nissan is now the third-biggest seller of full hybrids in Europe behind Toyota and Renault after significantly growing its share of the gasoline-electric drivetrain market in 2023.
Nissan sold 110,904 hybrids across Europe last year, according to figures from market researcher Dataforce, more than five times the number from the year before.
No. 2 Renault closed the gap with Toyota thanks to strong uptake for hybrid versions of the Clio small car, Captur small SUV and the Arkana and Austral compact SUVs. Sales were split fairly evenly between the four, with the hybrid Austral on top at 51,730. Hybrids accounted for about two-thirds of the Austral's sales last year.
Nissan has invested heavily in its e-Power solution for Europe after scoring a hit with the technology in its home market of Japan starting in 2017.
More than half of NIssan's hybrid sales in Europe came from the e-Power version of the Qashqai compact SUV. The rest was split between the hybrid Juke small SUV and the X-Trail midsize SUV with e-Power.
The e-Power drivetrain differs from conventional full hybrids in that the wheels are always directly powered by the electric motor, rather than a combination of the electric motor and combustion engine.
Nissan is looking to expand the technology into the U.S., CFO Stephen Ma said during the company's nine-month financial results event earlier this month.
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The Juke, meanwhile, uses hybrid technology borrowed from partner Renault and shared with the Captur small SUV.
Nissan's hybrid success helped it pass Hyundai, Kia and Honda in terms of sales of the drivetrain.
Nissan remains far behind Toyota, however, which sold 614,159 hybrids in Europe last year, up 9.4 percent the year before, according to Dataforce (see table, below).
Overall hybrid sales grew 28 percent in Europe last year to 1.26 million, driven by demand for lower emission vehicles.
Toyota took the first four hybrid vehicle positions in the sales chart, led by the Toyota Yaris Cross small SUV. The Qashqai was sixth after the hybrid version of the Hyundai Tucson compact SUV.
Hybrids have proved popular, particularly with Japanese automakers, and are often marketed as “self-charging” to lure customers who like the idea of an electrified powertrain but are wary about having to plug in.
Aside from Renault and Dacia, no European automaker has embraced the technology, with Volkswagen Group, Stellantis, BMW and Mercedes-Benz preferring to focus on plug-in hybrids as an interim lower-carbon technology.
Plug-in hybrids are more expensive to produce because they need a bigger battery, but they offer a much greater CO2 reduction than hybrids, according to official test cycle figures.
Plug-in hybrid sales peaked at more than 1 million in 2022 but fell below hybrids last year to end the year at 996,731, according to Dataforce figures.
BEV sales, meanwhile, surpassed 2 million in Europe, a rise of 28 percent compared with 2022.
Nissan slipped to a financial loss in Europe for the quarter ending December 31, company figures show. Nissan didn't give a reason for its loss; however, sales incentives sharply rose in the three months, according to its figures. In the nine-month period from April-December the company remained profitable.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Nissan is Europe's third-biggest seller of hybrids. A previous version of this story misstated the automaker's ranking.
