Nissan turnaround to axe 9,000 global jobs, halve CEO pay after 2Q loss
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The news: Nissan will cut 9,000 staff globally and its CEO, Makoto Uchida, will take a 50% pay cut as part of an emergency turnaround plan that will reduce production capacity by 20%.
The numbers: The announcement came as the carmaker unveiled a quarterly net loss of ¥9.3 billion ($90.84 million) in the three months to September.
The company downgraded its production forecast for the full year to 3.2 million cars, down from 3.45 million previously. It cut its full-year operating profit forecast by 70% to ¥150 billion, citing weak sales.
Nissan’s sales fell 3.8% to 1.59 million units in the first half, with US sales dropping 3% and China sales plunging 14.3%.
The automaker also said it will cut its stake in Mitsubishi Motors by 10 percentage points to 24% to raise up to ¥68.6 billion.
The restructure is expected to cut costs and expenses by ¥400 billion this fiscal year.
The context: Nissan is struggling with weak sales, particularly in China and the US, where it lacks competitive hybrid models that have helped rivals like Toyota counter slowing demand for electric vehicles.
Uchida, at the helm since 2019, said Nissan had misread demand for hybrid vehicles in the US. He will forfeit half his compensation starting this month.
The restructuring comes amid mounting challenges across the global car industry, as many automakers report falling profits amid fierce competition from Chinese EV manufacturers. It also follows the fallout from the Ghosn era and a weakened Renault partnership.
What they said: In an online press conference, Uchida said, “meeting our sales goals will be a challenge… We need to rebuild our strength so that we can pivot toward a more positive direction.”
"We didn't foresee HEVs ramping up this rapidly," he said, referring to hybrid EVs.
“We weren’t able to foresee that hybrid electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids would be so popular.”
“This has been a lesson learned and we have not been able to keep up with the times.”
