Nissan to cut over 10,000 more jobs

TOKYO >> Nissan Motor will cut more than 10,000 jobs globally, bringing the number of layoffs, including those previously announced, to about 20,000 or 15% of its workforce, Japan’s public broadcaster NHK reported today.

Japan’s third-biggest automaker is striving to make its business leaner and more resilient after weak sales in China and its biggest market, the United States.

Nissan declined to comment on the report.

It is set to announce on Tuesday the results for the business year that ended in March. It warned last month it would likely book a record 700 billion yen to 750 billion yen ($4.74 billion-$5.08 billion) net loss in that year due to impairment charges.

The car maker missed out on the growing popularity of hybrid models in the United States and failed to capitalise on an early lead in electric vehicles there.

It has also suffered in China, the world’s biggest auto market, where it plans to launch some 10 new vehicles in the coming years to try to halt a slide in sales.

CEO Ivan Espinosa, who took over from Makoto Uchida as chief executive last month, is restructuring Nissan’s operations and has previously said the company was considering extra measures.

Nissan, which had more than 133,000 staff as of March last year, announced plans last November to cut 9,000 jobs and reduce global capacity by 20%.

It has also said it would close a plant in Thailand by June and shut two more plants that it has not identified.

On Friday, it said it had decided to give up a plan to build a $1.1 billion factory, for which it was set to receive government subsidies, for EV batteries on Japan’s southwestern island of Kyushu.

Its weak performance forced it to cut its profit outlook four times for the financial year that just ended.