Nissan Motor Co. of Japan announced on the 15th that it will end production activities at two of its five domestic vehicle assembly plants by the end of the 2027 fiscal year (March 2028).
According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei), Nissan plans to end production at the Oppama plant in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture before March 2028, and the Shonan plant in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, operated by Nissan's subsidiary Nissan Body, will also halt production before March 2027.
This is the first time Nissan has reduced production capacity at its Japanese plants since shutting down the Musashimurayama plant in Tokyo in 2001. Nissan stated that it will decide on future plans for the Oppama plant but assured that there will be no further cuts at its Japanese factories.
The Oppama plant, which began operations in 1961, is Nissan's first dedicated passenger car factory. Its annual production capacity is 240,000 units, but its operating rate was reported to be about 40% last year. Nissan recorded a deficit of 670.8 billion yen (about 6.27 trillion won) in the 2024 fiscal year (April 2024 to March 2025). To improve its performance, Nissan plans to reduce its global factories from 17 to 10 and cut 20,000 employees, or 15% of its total workforce, by March 2028.