Nissan is in dire straits, and its new CEO is taking drastic measures to turn the company around. Last week, the automaker announced it would close its Oppama, Japan, plant by March 2028. It is one of seven Nissan plants to be closed, with the other six likely to include two plants in Mexico.
A new report from Automotive News, citing “two people familiar with the matter,” claims that the Japanese automaker will close its Civac plant by March 2027, which Nissan has operated for nearly 60 years. It is the company’s first plant outside Japan and currently produces the Navara.
A company spokesperson told Autonews that no final decision has been made on which plants will close at a later date. The report also claims that the Japanese automaker will end its partnership with Mercedes-Benz.
This will happen early next year, after it ends production of two Infiniti crossovers - the QX50 and QX55 - at its COMPAS facility. Nissan announced in January that it would stop production of both models in December of this year. Workers are building the Infiniti alongside the Mercedes GLB.
In addition to closing seven factories, reducing the number of operations to 10, Nissan aims to reduce production capacity by 30 percent by 2027 and cut its workforce by 20,000.
In May, the company announced it was halting development of certain models, redeploying employees to “focus on cost-cutting initiatives“ even as the automaker works to shorten the time it takes to launch next-generation models.
Nissan's uncertain future
Nissan's new CEO has a lot to do, and it seems every option is on the table. A report earlier this month claimed that Nissan could produce Honda-branded trucks at its Mississippi plant.
This would help Honda avoid President Donald Trump’s tariffs on imported vehicles and allow Nissan to bring the plant’s production capacity closer to full capacity. However, the company has not made any official announcements.
The Japanese automaker is implementing its “Re:Nissan” recovery plan, which includes laying off approximately 20,000 people, mostly through plant closures. It will also work to achieve 100 percent capacity utilization at its remaining factories.
It will also try to reduce engineering costs by 20 percent. If all goes according to plan, Nissan could save $3.4 billion. But the plan comes after Nissan reported a net loss of $4.5 billion last year.