Nissan may slow US EV production amid concerns over Trump’s policies

Nissan Motor Co. may slow a planned ramp-up of electric vehicles made in the US after halting output at a joint venture in Mexico, signaling unease about energy and trade policy under President Donald Trump’s second administration.

The start date and production levels for battery-powered cars to be manufactured at a plant in Canton, Mississippi, will depend in large part on whether Trump and the Republican Congress follow through on vows to scrap a $7,500 tax credit and other incentives for buyers and makers of EVs, according to Ponz Pandikuthira, Nissan’s chief planning officer for operations in the Americas.

“If they pull back on the $7,500 credit, we know the rate of adoption is going to slow," Pandikuthira said in an interview. “We certainly don’t want to be in a position of building models there’s no demand for."

The Japanese carmaker previously said it plans to produce four all-new EVs at the Mississippi factory starting in 2028, but Pandikuthira said Nissan will be ready for production of those vehicles as soon as 2027. However, it may slow-walk the EV start-up and also limit volumes in favor of boosting output of increasingly popular gas-electric hybrids, including plug-in models, to be built at its other US plant in Smyrna, Tennessee.

“We’re staying closely tuned to what happens with regulations," Pandikuthira said. “We can decide which ones to ramp up and which ones to slow down."

That calibration is part of a broader plan by the Yokohama-based carmaker to boost sluggish sales in the US and bolster its sagging fortunes.

Separately, Nissan said it will cancel two Infiniti cars, the gas-powered QX50 and QX55 compact crossovers, as of December 2025 in an effort to revamp its ailing premium brand. They are the only Nissan vehicles made at the Mexican plant it co-owns with Mercedes-Benz Group AG.

The decision was based on low demand for the two older models, Pandikuthira said, adding Nissan has no plans to cut or shift output at its other facilities in Mexico that make vehicles such as the Kicks subcompact and Sentra compact sedan.

The end of Infiniti's production in the country follows Trump’s threats to impose a 25 per cent tariff hike on Mexico and Canada that could damage sales of vehicles they export to the US.

The Mexican venture, which is known as Cooperation Manufacturing Plant Aguascalientes, or Compas, will continue to assemble a Mercedes model through May of 2026, but a representative for the plant declined to specify what other vehicles might replace those that are discontinued.

“Nissan and Mercedes Benz are continually reviewing and adapting to requirements as needed. We have no further comments currently," Mark Davidson, chief financial officer of the joint venture, wrote in an email.

Nissan is planning as many as 2,000 job cuts in the US this year, according to a local Japanese media report on Saturday. By closing production lines at its plants in Tennessee and Mississippi, it aims to reduce US output by about 25 per cent, the report said.

Spokesperson Shiro Nagai declined to comment on the matter, noting that the report is not based on an official company announcement. Last year, the carmaker announced that it will slash 9,000 jobs globally and reduce production capacity by 20 per cent to address financial struggles.

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