In March Toyota announced the cessation of all new diesel car sales by the end of 2018 within Europe, diesel sales account for 10 percent of its year-on-year sales. Well, not all diesel-powered cars, large SUV’s such as the Land Cruiser and Hilux pickup will continue to use the diesel power. On Monday Nissan announced that it to would be ending sales of new diesel cars and offer electrified alternatives by the time it revamps its entire European passenger model lineup. So what is an electrified car? It uses petrol and it has a 48-volt electrical system that powers ancillary functions, such as stop/start, cylinder deactivation, powering all sorts safety technologies to the USB power point all in the name of improving efficiency and lowering emissions. Electrified vehicles are also known as ‘mild-hybrids’ that is to say they differ from a full hybrid vehicle in that they do not offer additional pure-electric drive, as do hybrids. So why are some manufactures beginning the end of new diesel car sales? Emissions. Remeber the VW Diesel-gate scandal? of course, you do, VW in their quest to sell more diesel cars knowingly and intentionally sold cars that had their emissions data tampered with so that they could meet tough US emissions regulations. The clever people at the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) discovered VW’s emissions hack, VW was punished, fined a few billion dollars and in the process accelerated the demise of diesel on the back of their get rich quick scheme at the expense of public health. Subsequently, governments across the world decided to introduce even tougher measures aimed at ending the sales of new diesel and petrol powered cars by 2040. It seems VW’s diesel emissions violations has kickstarted the early decline of diesel passenger cars. Nissan, like Toyota, will gradually decline the sales of new diesel cars in Europe, which amounted to 16 percent of its total deliveries in 2017, or around 128k diesel cars. Electrification will also seep into parts of Nissan’s light commercial business such as vans and Pickup trucks. New global regulatory changes to reduce overall emissions will hit diesel the hardest, Paris has already introduced a ban on older diesel vehicles. In the UK new tax measures and impending ban on diesels entering city centers have seen a decline in demand for new diesel cars. The race to ban diesel and eventually, petrol cars has begun, and it may well end sooner than 2040. VW, in their effort to please shareholders, have inadvertently kick-started a revolution they didn’t want.