After Volkswagen, Nissan in turn announced a massive restructuring. The Japanese group, in which Renault still holds a 35.71% stake, plans to eliminate 9,000 jobs out of a workforce of 133,580 people 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 a year”he explained. The head of the third largest Japanese manufacturer and his executive committee will reduce their monthly remuneration by half, effective immediately.
In the last quarter, the group recorded a loss of 9.3 billion yen (58 million euros), with turnover falling 5% year-on-year. Its annual forecasts have been revised significantly downwards. Nissan CEO wants “reduce its fixed costs by 300 billion yen [1,8 milliard d’euros] compared to fiscal year 2024-2025 and its variable costs of 100 billion yen »without cutting research and development expenses. He created a new position of head of performance, entrusted to the Frenchman Guillaume Cartier, until then responsible for Nissan Europe.
The manufacturer is behind in two large markets, which could be the first affected by the restructuring: in China, where compared to local manufacturers at the forefront of electricity, its sales fell 13% in the last quarter, and in USA. -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 tariffs also create uncertainty for the Mexican factory.
The Yokohama group’s setbacks are bad news for Renault, which is slowly selling its stake. Since the beginning of the year, Nissan shares have lost 27% of their value. Following the reconfiguration of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance in February 2023, the French manufacturer has significantly relaxed 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.
