Under the dual pressure of intensifying competition in the global automotive market and a decline in company sales, Nissan is taking urgent measures to reverse its performance, including reducing global production capacity by 20% and laying off 9,000 employees worldwide.
Meanwhile, Nissan's CEO Makoto Uchida announced that he will voluntarily forgo 50% of his monthly salary starting this month, with other executive committee members also choosing to take voluntary pay cuts.
Additionally, Nissan plans to reduce its stake in Mitsubishi Motors from the current 34% to around 24% to enhance the company's available funding.
According to financial reports, Nissan recorded a net loss of 93 billion yen in the second quarter of this fiscal year, with net sales amounting to 2.99 trillion yen. The company has lowered its operating profit forecast for the entire 2024 fiscal year to 150 billion yen.
The layoffs and pay cuts at Nissan are primarily due to poor sales performance in the U.S. and Chinese markets. According to Japanese media reports, hybrid vehicles are becoming increasingly popular in the United States, but Nissan has not introduced such models in that market; in China, facing fierce competition from electric vehicles, Nissan lacks appropriate strategies, leading to a similar decline in sales.
Data shows that from January to October 2024, Nissan’s cumulative sales in China, including passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, amounted to 558,168 units, reflecting a year-on-year decrease of 9.98%.
It is reported that the announcement resulted in Nissan's stock price dropping as much as 10% during Friday's early trading in Tokyo, marking the largest single-day decline since August and reaching the lowest level in four years.
