Nissan Cuts Production of New Leaf EV in Half Due to Battery Shortage

According to Nikkei News, Nissan has significantly reduced the production plan for the new Leaf electric vehicle, cutting the output for the period from September to November to less than half of the original plan.

2025 model Leaf; Image source: Nissan Motor Corporation

The new model of the Nissan Leaf for the US and Japanese markets is produced at Nissan's factory in Tochigi Prefecture. Several Nissan executives revealed that the production plan for fiscal year 2025 has been reduced, with particularly significant cuts in September and October, and production in some months has been reduced by several thousand vehicles.

Disruptions in battery supply are the underlying reason for the production cut. The new Leaf model, scheduled for launch this year, was originally seen as a key element in Nissan’s revival plan.

An insider from Nissan Motors stated that the production yield of the batteries used in the Leaf electric vehicle has not met expectations, resulting in Nissan Motors being unable to obtain an adequate supply of batteries. This supply bottleneck may impact actual sales.

The Nissan Leaf, launched in 2010, is the world’s first mass-produced electric vehicle. With this redesign, the Nissan Leaf has entered its third generation. The new Leaf is scheduled to launch in the United States this fall, in Japan by the end of this year, and in Europe next year.

The new Nissan Leaf has increased its range by over 30% and has been completely redesigned into the popular SUV shape, leading to high market expectations for its sales growth.

Notably, Nissan Motor has been experiencing sluggish sales recently, with its struggles in the US market being particularly evident. In its 2024 fiscal year (from April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025), Nissan Motor's consolidated net loss reached 670.8 billion yen (approximately 4.56 billion US dollars), while its net profit for the 2023 fiscal year was 426.6 billion yen. In April this year, Nissan appointed former product planning head Ivan Espinosa as CEO to lead the recovery plan.

Ivan Espinosa has proposed a strategy that includes restructuring measures such as plant consolidation and the launch of new models to improve Nissan's medium- to long-term performance. The new Nissan Leaf was originally regarded as the flagship model of this recovery plan.

In the first half of 2025, Nissan fell out of the top ten global automakers for the first time. The company's new car sales in the first half of the year were 1.61 million units, a decrease of 6% year-on-year, marking the lowest record in 16 years. If production delays prevent Nissan from increasing the inventory of the Leaf as planned, its business recovery may become even more challenging.

Nissan was once a pioneer in the electric vehicle market, but it has now been surpassed by Tesla in the U.S. market and by emerging players like BYD in the Chinese market. Competition in Japan's domestic electric vehicle market is also intensifying: last week, Honda launched the "N-One e:" mini electric car in Japan, while BYD plans to introduce a mini electric car in Japan in the fiscal year 2026.