Nissan, the company that pioneered mass-market electric vehicles with the original Leaf in 2010, is betting on hybrids to help propel its turnaround effort.Why it matters: U.S. consumers are hungry for hybrids, but Nissan has largely sat out the segment in its biggest market.That'll change this summer, with the launch of the redesigned 2027 Rogue SUV featuring Nissan's next-generation e-Power hybrid system.How it works: Unlike most hybrids, in which the engine and one or more electric motors work together to power the vehicle, Nissan's e-Power is a series hybrid.That means the wheels are powered only by an electric motor. The engine merely acts as a generator to recharge the battery feeding the motor.The new all-wheel-drive Rogue will feature two motors, but the setup is the same.Nissan has sold nearly 2 million e-Power hybrids in Europe and Japan over the past decade, but this is the first time it will be available in the U.S."That's going to be a big game changer for Nissan and an accelerator of growth for us," Christian Meunier, chairman of Nissan Americas, told Axios in an interview.The e-Power will also be available in an upcoming Infiniti SUV, and potentially other small cars like the Kicks, he said. But for larger models like the Pathfinder, Frontier and soon-to-be revived Xterra, traditional hybrids make more sense, he said. Nissan's not giving up on EVs, Meunier said. "We think EVs are still going to be a key component of the future, so we're still focused on EV technology," he said. "But we believe it's one of a few technologies that need to happen for us to compete."The big picture: After a yearslong decline, Nissan is on the rebound under new CEO Ivan Espinosa, who took over a year ago.The company slashed costs and turned its focus to selling more vehicles through its dealers, rather than through lower-margin fleet channels.U.S. tariffs also helped, Meunier said, by nudging Nissan to increase production of higher-margin vehicles such as the Pathfinder and Frontier in Tennessee and Mississippi.The share of U.S.-made Nissans sold in the U.S. has jumped from 44% to 65% in a year, he said, with a goal of 80%.Yes, but: Affordability remains an issue, Meunier said, which is why Nissan continues to import cheaper, sub-$30,000 cars like the Sentra and Kicks from Mexico, even though it loses money on every sale because of the current 27.5% percent tariff imposed by the Trump administration."That's not sustainable," said Meunier, who is urging the U.S. and Mexico to reach a deal on lower tariffs to protect Americans' access to affordable cars."It's not good for the U.S. economy, and it's not good for the Mexican economy," he said.