By Maki Shiraki and Daniel Leussink
TOKYO (Wiseova) – Nissan is mulling over shutting down two automobile manufacturing facilities in Japan along with some international plants, such as those located in Mexico, according to information provided by sources on Saturday. This move comes as part of an expense-reduction strategy announced by the company at the beginning of the week.
The car company is considering shutting down the Oppama factory in Japan, where Nissan began manufacturing in 1961, as well as the Shonan facility managed by Nissan Shatai, of which Nissan owns half, according to insiders. This move would reduce their number of vehicle assembly plants in Japan to only three.
Abroad, Nissan is contemplating ceasing manufacturing operations at facilities located in South Africa, India, and Argentina, with another source mentioning they also plan to reduce the count of their factories in Mexico.
Japan's third-largest car manufacturer announced extensive new measures for reducing costs on Tuesday, stating they plan to decrease their global staff by approximately 15% and scale down their manufacturing facilities from 17 to 10 locations worldwide as part of an effort to implement a restructuring.
The Yomiuri newspaper, which initially broke the news about potential plant closures by automotive manufacturers both domestically in Japan and internationally, mentioned that two facilities located in Mexico are being considered for this action.
Nissan stated on their website that rumors about potentially shutting down specific plants were unfounded and did not stem from any official company data.
Nissan stated in the release that they would not be offering additional commentary at present," the company noted. "They remain dedicated to keeping their stakeholders informed and will share pertinent updates when needed.
The forceful measures introduced by new CEO Ivan Espinosa represent a significant departure from the approach taken during his predecessor Makoto Uchida’s tenure. Under Uchida, there were ambitious plans for increasing worldwide manufacturing capacity, and he was adamant about not shutting down domestic facilities despite potential benefits.
The car company's sales for the fiscal year 2024 amounted to 3.3 million vehicles, which represents a 42% decrease from the figures recorded during the 2017 business year.
On Saturday, Nissan released a statement indicating that they had earlier declared their intention to concentrate the manufacturing of the Nissan Frontier and Navara pickup trucks at a singular facility. This new centralized production hub will be based primarily on the Civac plant located in Mexico, consolidating current operations coming from both Mexico and Argentina.
The announcement was made in March stating that Renault, the French alliance partner, would acquire the stake in their jointly owned Indian venture, Renault Nissan Automotive India Private Ltd (RNAIPL).
The shutdown of these domestic plants would be Nissan's first since they closed their Murayama facility back in 2001.
Maintaining only three manufacturing facilities at home—its Tochigi plant and the Nissan Motor Kyushu along with Nissan Shatai Kyushu plants located in southern Fukuoka Prefecture—would suffice for serving the local demand and sustaining exports from Japan, according to a source.
The Oppama facility can produce approximately 240,000 vehicles each year and had roughly 3,900 employees as of late October. It was also the first Nissan plant to begin manufacturing the Leaf back in 2010, which is broadly recognized as one of the industry’s initial mainstream electric cars.
The Shonan facility, responsible for manufacturing commercial vans, boasts an annual production capability of approximately 150,000 units and supports roughly 1,200 jobs.
(Reported by Maki Shiraki and Daniel Leussink; Edited by Chris Reese, Sandra Maler, Sam Holmes, and Sonali Paul)
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