Tokyo – Nissan is cutting around 15% of the world’s workforce, or about 20,000 employees. Japanese automakers reported losses for the fiscal year that just ended amid slippage in sales in China and other countries, and reported restructuring costs that pivoted the restructuring costs.
Nissan Motor Corp. said it would reduce the number of automotive plants from 17 to 10 under what is called the recovery plan, “creating decisive and bold actions to create a more lean and resilient business that will improve performance and quickly adapt to market changes.” They did not say which plants were closed, but they confirmed that the closure includes Japanese factories.
“We have mountains to climb,” its CEO Ivan Espinoza told reporters, stressing that the tasks aren’t easy, requiring discipline and team work. “From today, we are building the future for Nissan.”
The reduction in work carried out by March 2028 includes the 9,000 head count reduction announced last year. Nissan previously announced that it would dispose of its plan to build a battery plant in Japan.
Espinosa, who was at the helm earlier this year, said the latest plans will match production with demand, including market and product strategy thinking, following a careful review of the business. Nissan will also leverage partnerships with France’s Renault SA in Europe and partnerships such as Nissan in China’s Dongfen, he said.
The Yokohama-based automaker said US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on car imports would also undermine the outcome.
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Nissan earned a loss of 6700 billion yen ($4.5 billion) from March to March, from a profit of 426.6 billion yen recorded last year.
In the latest quarter from March to March, Nissan recorded a total of 676 billion yen ($4.6 billion) of red ink. It also said the recovery plan includes attempting to cut 500 billion yen ($3.4 billion) compared to current costs.
“As a new executive, we are taking a sensible approach to reassessing our goals and actively seeking every possible opportunity to implement and secure a robust recovery,” Espinosa said.
“All employees are committed to working together as a team to implement this plan with the goal of returning to profitability by fiscal year 2026,” he said.
However, Nissan’s Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Pappin acknowledged that automakers face serious challenges. Nissan did not make profit forecasts for the fiscal year ending March 2026.
By Yuri Kageyama
