THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
May 17, 2025 at 13:59 JST
Nissan Motor Co.’s Oppama plant in Kanagawa Prefecture with its adjacent test-driving course (Takeo Kato)
Struggling Nissan Motor Co. may close two of its five domestic auto plants, including its famed Oppama factory in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, southwest of Tokyo, as part of sweeping restructuring.
Along with the Oppama factory, the company is targeting the Shonan plant of subsidiary Nissan Shatai Co. in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, according to sources.
Nissan last closed a domestic factory in 2001 when the Murayama plant in Tokyo’s Musashimurayama city was shut as part of a massive downsizing implemented by then company president Carlos Ghosn.
The Oppama plant has a test-driving course next to it. For many years, it installed the most advanced technology into Nissan models such as the Leaf electric vehicle.
The plant opened in 1961. It had about 3,900 workers as of October 2024.
Sources also said the company was also weighing plans to close five overseas plants.
Production at the Argentina plant will shift to Mexico. Nissan has also announced plans to sell its share of a joint venture in India to its partner Renault.
In addition to moving out of Argentina and India, Nissan is also considering closing plants elsewhere, Mexico, being one possibility.
The automaker had issued statements denying media reports of such closures, saying they were based on speculation not company announcements.
On May 13, Nissan announced a net loss of 670.8 billion yen ($4.6 billion) for the fiscal year that ended in March. The net loss was its third largest.
The rebuilding plan released at the same time said seven plants would be closed by fiscal 2027, with the global workforce reduced by 20,000.
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