Nissan Continues To Sink Further And Further

Currently the third largest Japanese car manufacturer, Nissan, which sells more than three million vehicles worldwide annually, will close two factories in Japan, including its most famous one in the city of Yokosuki, as part of a major business rationalization project.

Once Japan’s second-largest four-wheeler manufacturer, known for its futuristic design, the world’s first mass-produced electric car, and abroad, especially for its brilliant sports models, Nissan has been in decline for the past five or six years since the incredible scandal surrounding the downfall and arrest of CEO Carlos Ghosn.

According to RTS, the company recorded large losses last year, which forced it to seek salvation in a merger with the financially sound Honda. Namely, in fiscal 2025, Nissan incurred a loss of as much as 750 billion yen (approximately $5 billion at the current exchange rate), which is the highest since 1986.

However, it was precisely because of such poor business results and structural problems that the desired merger of equals failed. That is why Nissan once again replaced the CEO at the beginning of this fiscal year, leaving the task of implementing the necessary structural reforms aimed at drastically reducing costs to the new cadre, Mexican Ivan Espinoza.

They announced a reduction in the number of factories from 17 to just 10, a decrease in production by about a million vehicles a year, and the layoff of thousands of workers. Among the threatened plants was the one in the port city of Yokosuka, where Nissan produces the electric model “Leaf,” the world’s first mass-produced EV, and two other hybrids. It employs 3,900 people and, thanks to its location on the coast, also serves as a terminal where thousands of vehicles are loaded onto giant ocean-going ships.

The factory, named “Opama” after the district in which it is located, is a symbol of Nissan, as it is the second oldest and the second largest. Its closure, economists point out, would be a severe, practically fatal blow to several hundred suppliers.

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