Photo/Illutration Nissan Motor Co.’s ‘Global Headquarters’ in Yokohama (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Nissan Motor Co. on Nov. 6 posted a half-year net loss of 221.9 billion yen ($1.4 billion) and said it will sell its headquarters building in Yokohama for 97 billion yen.

The automaker also reportedly plans to cut domestic production for a week.

The net loss for the six months to September contrasts sharply with its 19.2-billion-yen net profit for the same period last year. 

The decline was attributed to poor performances in its core automotive business and the impact of additional tariffs imposed on Japan by the U.S. Trump administration. 

Sales revenue fell 6.8 percent year-on-year to 5.5786 trillion yen in the first half of the fiscal year.

Nissan also reported an operating loss totaling 27.6 billion yen, compared with a 32.9-billion-yen operating profit in the same period last year.

However, the operating loss was smaller than Nissan’s forecast of a 180-billion-yen loss made in July.

The company reduced the loss amount by pushing some research and development projects to the latter half of the fiscal year. Nissan also said costs related to U.S. environmental regulations were lower than expected.

For the full fiscal year ending March 2026, Nissan forecasts a 7.4-percent year-on-year decline in revenue to 11.7 trillion yen. It also expects an operating loss of 275 billion yen, compared with an operating profit of 69.7 billion yen the previous year.

If the company posts a full-year operating loss, it would be its first since the fiscal year ending March 2021, when the global economy slumped amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The automaker estimates the impact of U.S. tariffs on the company will be 275 billion yen.

FROM OWNER TO RENTER

According to Nissan, the buyer of the Yokohama headquarters building is a joint venture funded largely by Minth Group, a Taiwanese auto parts maker.

Nissan will sign a 20-year lease agreement to continue using the building as its headquarters.

The sale and lease are scheduled to be executed on Dec. 12.

The automaker said funds obtained from the sale will be used for equipment upgrades and business reforms to turn around the fortunes of the company.

The current book value of the property is 23 billion yen. The 73.9-billion-yen profit will be recorded as an extraordinary gain in Nissan’s financial results for the fiscal year ending March 2026.

In 2009, Nissan moved its “Global Headquarters” from central Tokyo to Yokohama, the city of its founding.

Hit by sluggish sales in North America and China, Nissan posted a 670.8-billion-yen net loss for the fiscal year ending in March, the third largest in its history.

The automaker is already proceeding with plans to lay off 20,000 employees and shut down seven production sites worldwide.

DOMESTIC REDUCTION

Nissan also intends to cut production by several hundred vehicles during the week from Nov. 10 at its Oppama Plant in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, and at Nissan Motor Kyushu Co. in Kanda, Fukuoka Prefecture, according to sources.

The move was prompted by the Chinese government’s export restrictions of products made by Nexperia B.V., a Chinese-owned semiconductor manufacturer headquartered in the Netherlands, the sources said.

Guillaume Cartier, Nissan’s chief performance officer who oversees sales aboard, said on Oct. 29 that the export restrictions would have no impact on shipments through the first week of November.

But he acknowledged the possibility that the effects could spread globally.

Nissan has not decided on its domestic production plans after Nov. 17.

In September, the Dutch government decided to place Nexperia under state supervision over economic security concerns.

In response, the Chinese government in October restricted exports of some products made at the company’s Chinese facilities, raising fears of a widespread impact on the auto industry.

(This article was compiled from reports written by Kenta Nakamura and Jumpei Miura.)

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