Nissan Leaf SUV revealed as Tesla Model Y rival! Rush of new product to lead Nissan’s survival fight

March 28, 2025March 28, 2025 John Mahoney 3706 Views 0 Comments leaf, Micra EV, Navara, nissan

Nissan has unwrapped the all-new third-generation Leaf SUV as a full-on Tesla Model Y fighter within a presentation intended to prove its turn-around will be led by all-new product.

Conducted just weeks after merger negotiations with Honda stalled, Nissan’s presentation also included the first look at the Micra EV and offered a comprehensive list of models it will launch globally over the next two years.

Confirmed for launch in Australia after April 2026, it’s the first time we’ve had a decent glimpse of the new Nissan Leaf that abandons its hatchback roots for a more appealing SUV body style as it chases buyers in the world’s fastest-growing mid-size SUV segment.

Just one of five new Nissans that will be introduced in Australia over the next two Japanese financial years – April 1 2025 to March 31 2027, the third-generation Nissan Leaf is taller, wider and longer than the car it replaces.

Smooth styling includes hidden door handles, sleep frontal styling and a rakish rear profile hint the bigger proportions will be offset with a low-drag body designed to boost the distance travelling on a single charge.

The show car also rides on large 19-inch alloy wheels, while North American versions get both a large panoramic sunroof and a useful NACS charging port to allow owners to plug into Tesla’s Supercharger network.

Our cars should get the usual CCS port.

Full technical details will come later, but Nissan did confirm the Leaf sits on the same Renault Nissan Mitsubishi alliance CMF-EV architecture as the bigger Ariya SUV.

That means it could come with either a 65kWh or a 90kWh battery packs and the choice of a 160kW/300Nm front e-motor, or a more powerful dual-motor all-wheel drive set-up with 290kW/600Nm.

Expect the next Leaf to have a WLTP range of between 400-550km.

2026 Nissan Leaf and other future models. — 2026 Nissan Leaf, Micra EV and another future model.

Unveiled alongside the Leaf was the next-generation Micra EV that was developed in tandem with the Renault 5 E-Tech.

The small Nissan hatch remains unconfirmed for a local launch, but Nissan did use the media presentation to re-confirm that the Ariya SUV would indeed make an appearance in Australian dealers this year, more than three years after sales began in Japan.

Other important introductions in Australia in the JFY 2026-7 financial year include the Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series-rivalling Patrol, the new Nissan Navara that could receive a plug-in hybrid version to rival the BYD Shark 6 and the Ford Ranger PHEV.

In 2026 Nissan Australia will also roll out its updated Qashqai SUV that will be the first model in the world to debut the car-maker’s third-generation e-POWER hybrid tech.

It is claimed to bring a 15 per cent boost in efficiency at high speed, as well as lower emissions and enhanced refinement.

The new e-POWER hybrid will be centred around a new 1.5-litre combustion engine that supplies the electricity needed to drive the electric motors that spin the wheels.

Last year Nissan Australia sold 45,248 vehicles making it Australia’s ninth best-selling brand but so far, in the first two months of 2025, sales were reportedly down an alarming 29.2 per cent.

Local Nissan bosses hope the two-pronged attack on the Tesla Model Y with the Leaf and Ariya will help turnaround the sales slump Down Under and save the car-maker’s bacon worldwide.

In February this year Nissan introduced a new industry-leading 10-year/300,000km warranty that was backdated to January 2021 for customers who had their vehicle serviced at a brand-approved dealer.

More details on the Nissan Ariya are expected to be released shortly as well as exact timings for the next-generation Leaf.