Nissan is wading through troubled waters at present, with the Japanese carmaker recently having announced that it plans to reduce its global production capacity by 20% and its staff count by 9,000.
However, the situation could be even more dire than the company lets on, with an unnamed senior executive reportedly having told The Financial Times that the company has “12 to 14 months to survive”.
“This is going to be tough. And in the end, we need Japan and the US to be generating cash,” the insider told the publication.
This comes amid plans for Alliance partner Renault to gradually reduce its stake in Nissan. The French carmaker already cut its holding from 43.4% to 36% in 2023, and word on the street is that Honda could buy up some of the shares.
Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi have already signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop electric vehicles and software.
Meanwhile, Nissan’s turnaround plan, announced earlier in November, aims to reduce its fixed costs by 300 billion yen (R33.9 billion).
In addition to the aforementioned job losses and capacity reduction, Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida and other senior executives have agreed to take a 50% pay cut.
Nissan’s turnaround actions will be monitored by a new Chief Performance Officer, who will be appointed from December 1.
The carmaker said earlier this month that its consolidated operating profit decreased by 303.8 billion yen (R34.9bn) to 32.9bn yen (R3.7bn) in the first half of 2024.
It remains unclear how Nissan’s turnaround plan will affect South Africa’s Rosslyn manufacturing plant in Gauteng.
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