Nissan is to cut 20,000 jobs, close seven plants and freeze all post-2026 product work as part of an expanded global cost-cutting restructure aimed at stemming heavy losses.
Announced today (13 May), the moves build on the Japanese firm’s February announcement, when it said it would reduce its workforce by 9000, close three plants and slash production by 20% (to five million vehicles per year).
Today’s new numbers include those previously announced plans, Nissan said, and comes as it confirms a £3.8 billion net loss in the 2024/25 financial year.
Nissan president and CEO Ivan Espinosa blamed the heavy loss on “rising variable costs, compounded by an uncertain environment”, adding that this new “prudent approach” has the aim of “returning to profitability by fiscal year 2026”.
The Japanese company says it plans to reduce cost by £1.3bn by 2027. While this target will be partly hit through streamlining its supply chain and “cost efficiencies”, it will be mainly achieved through cuts.
To which end, it will slash its workforce by 20,000 between now and the end of the April 2027. The total number includes the 9000 cuts that were confirmed earlier this year.
These cuts will be from manufacturing, administrative and R&D roles.
Nissan currently employs 133,580 people globally, around 6000 of them at its Sunderland plant, where it builds the Qashqai and Juke.
The future of that plant is also up in the air, as Nissan has said it will now close a seven factories by 2027. While not detailing which, it did confirm that one of those sites is confirmed to be the planned battery plant in Kyushu, Japan.
When asked previously, Nissan UK said that final decisions on where staff numbers would be hit or which factories would close hadn't yet been made, with an impact in Sunderland not ruled out.
Autocar has asked Nissan for an updated response.
What’s more, all post-2026 product work has been temporarily shelved, with 3000 staff instead moved to focus on unspecified “cost reduction initiatives”, thought to involve revamping Nissan's supply chain.
The brand has also confirmed that it will look to strengthen its partnerships with the Renault Group, Mitsubishi and Honda in order to streamline its operations and cut costs.
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