11:45 am, May 13, 2025
Nissan is planning to axe almost 20,000 jobs as part of a major cost-cutting exercise, according to reports.
The Japanese brand announced last year that it was restructuring its global workforce amid a need to tighten its belt following slow sales.
Back in November, the company said it was aiming to cut around 9,000 positions worldwide but that plans have now been sharply ratcheted up.
Yesterday (May 12), broadcaster NHK reported in Nissan’s native Japan that an additional 11,000 jobs would be lost, taking the total to around 20,000.
It is currently unclear where the jobs will be lost but the group has today said its major overhaul will see a reduction in its number of plants from 17 to 10 by 2027.
The cutbacks are expected to impact roughly 15% of the company’s entire workforce – around 6,000 of which currently work at its UK plant in Sunderland.
Nissan has said it is targeting 250 billion yen (£1.28bn) worth of cost savings against the previous financial year.
This will be secured through the closure of plants, work shift adjustments and reduced capital spending, including through cancellation of a planned lithium battery plant in Kyushu for its electric vehicles.
Nissan president and chief executive Ivan Espinosa said: ‘In the face of challenging full-year 2024 performance and rising variable costs compounded by an uncertain environment, we must prioritise self-improvement with greater urgency and speed, aiming for profitability that relies less on volume.
‘As new management, we are taking a prudent approach to reassess our targets and actively seek every possible opportunity to implement and ensure a robust recovery.
‘Re:Nissan is an action-based recovery plan clearly outlines what we need to do now.’
Last month, Alan Johnson, senior vice president for manufacturing for Nissan’s Africa, Middle East, India, Europe and Oceania operation, cautioned that the UK was ‘not a competitive place’ to build cars as he called for Government support.
The firm has been impacted by stalling sales in China and the US, which were not helped by President Donald Trump’s plans to hike tariffs on cars imported to the US to 25%.
The vast majority of cars made in the UK will be subject to a 10% tariff after the UK-US trade deal agreed last week.
