Japanese Nissan announces massive restructuring

Production line at the Nissan Motor Tochigi factory, in Kaminokawa, Japan, December 8, 2023. RICHARD A. BROOKS/AFP After Volkswagen, Nissan, in turn, announced a massive restructuring. The Japanese group, in which Renault still holds a 35.71% stake, plans to cut 9,000 jobs out of a workforce of 133,580 worldwide. Insisting on the seriousness of the situation, its CEO, Makoto Uchida, who succeeded Carlos Ghosn in 2019, wants to reduce the group’s production capacities by 20% to adapt to a clear deterioration in sales. “We have enough to produce 5 million units, but we sell 3.4 million per year,” he explained. The boss of the third largest Japanese manufacturer and his executive committee will reduce their monthly remuneration by half, effective immediately. Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers Volkswagen breaks a taboo by mentioning the closure of factories in Germany Read later In the last quarter, the group recorded a loss of 9.3 billion yen (58 million euros) for a figure of business down 5% over one year. Its annual forecasts have been significantly revised downwards. Nissan CEO wants to “reduce fixed costs by 300 billion yen [1,8 milliard d’euros] compared to the 2024-2025 financial year and its variable costs of 100 billion yen”, without cutting research and development spending. He created a new position of performance boss, entrusted to Frenchman Guillaume Cartier, until then head of Nissan Europe. The manufacturer is caught on the back foot in two major markets, which could be the first affected by restructuring: in China, where compared to local manufacturers at the forefront of electricity, its sales fell by 13% in the last quarter, and in the United States. -United, where it did not anticipate the increase in demand for hybrid or plug-in hybrid cars. “We are too slow” Neither Japan nor Europe, a smaller market for Nissan, can reverse the trend. “We are too slow to respond to market demands,” assumed Makoto Uchida. Donald Trump’s threats to introduce new customs duties also create uncertainty for the Mexican factory. Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers The return of Donald Trump, bad news for the electric car Read later The setbacks of the Yokohama group are bad news for Renault, which is gradually selling off its stake. Since the start of the year, Nissan shares have lost 27% of their value. After the reconfiguration of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance in February 2023, the French manufacturer has, however, significantly loosened its ties with its Japanese partner. Nissan then approached Honda to work on the electric car. It will also reduce its stake in Mitsubishi Motors from 34% to 24% to free up cash.



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