Japanese automaker Nissan has announced plans to slash 9,000 jobs worldwide and reduce production capacity by 20% in response to declining sales across key markets. The company unveiled this strategy on Thursday, along with a dramatic 70% reduction in its annual operating profit forecast to 150 billion yen ($976 million). This is Nissan’s second profit warning this year, underscoring its struggle to regain financial stability.
In a bid to streamline operations, Nissan will sell back 10% of its stake in Mitsubishi Motors, lowering its current 34% holding. CEO Makoto Uchida will also forfeit half of his monthly salary starting this month, with other executives following suit by accepting voluntary pay cuts. The company is taking “urgent measures to turn around its performance and create a leaner, more resilient business capable of adapting to market changes,” according to an official statement.
Nissan has faced particularly challenging conditions in China, where sales fell by 14.3% during the first half of the fiscal year, contributing to a 3.8% global sales drop to 1.6 million units. In the U.S., sales also dipped 3%, with both markets accounting for nearly half of Nissan’s total sales. To address these setbacks, Nissan plans to accelerate the rollout of new energy vehicles in China and introduce more plug-in hybrid and e-POWER models in the U.S.
CEO Uchida, who took on the leadership role in 2019 following a management shakeup after former chairman Carlos Ghosn’s arrest, emphasized that the company’s restructuring does not signal a retreat. “Nissan will restructure its business to become leaner and more resilient while also reorganizing management to respond quickly and flexibly to changes in the business environment,” he stated.
Looking ahead, Uchida aims to expand Nissan’s electric vehicle lineup, pursue new partnerships, and increase sales by an additional 1 million units by 2027.