Keystone-SDA
The Japanese car manufacturer Nissan, in financial difficulties, will stop its production in its Oppama factory in early 2028, south of Tokyo, as part of a massive restructuring aimed at drastically reducing its global capacities.
(Keystone-ATS) “The company plans to transfer and integrate the production of vehicles from the Oppama factory”, outside Yokohama, to another factory located near Fukuoka (southwest Japan), Nissan said on Tuesday.
Production in Oppama, a site employing around 2400 people and specializing in the manufacture of hybrid vehicles, will be interrupted “at the end of the fiscal year 2027”, that is to say in March 2028.
Nissan was suffered in 2024-2025 a colossal annual net loss equivalent to 4.1 billion euros, in particular due to the costs linked to the recovery plan initiated by the company.
Strongly indebted, not profitable and undermined by the shortness of shortness of sales in its key markets, the manufacturer had announced in November wanting to reduce its total production capacities by 20%.
Nissan has since said since he intends to reduce the number of his vehicle production factories from 17 to 10 by the end of the 2027 fiscal year, to bring its production capacity to 2.5 million vehicles per year (outside China).
The Japanese group has also announced to target 20,000 job cuts worldwide on the same date.
Difficult but necessary
“Today, Nissan has made a difficult, but necessary decision. It was not easy (…) But I am convinced that this is an essential step to overcome our current challenges, ”Nissan CEO, Ivan Espinosa, appointed to orchestrate the recovery plan on Tuesday.
The transfer of this production is “the most effective solution, given the capacities, profitability and investment potential,” said Nissan, ensuring that other activities-research and development, crash-tests-will continue in Oppama.
Employees currently stationed at the Oppama factory will work there until the end of the 2027 fiscal year, their future to be the subject of discussions with union organizations.
Opened in 1961, the Oppama factory has so far produced some 17.8 million vehicles in total.