Nissan considering plant closures in SA, Japan: sources

Nissan is considering plans to shut two car assembly plants in Japan and overseas factories, including in Mexico, sources said on Saturday, as part of a cost-cutting plan the company flagged last week.

The carmaker is mulling closing Japan's Oppama plant, where Nissan started production in 1961, and the Shonan plant operated by Nissan Shatai, in which Nissan is a 50% stakeholder, the sources said, which would leave it with three vehicle assembly plants in Japan.

Overseas, Nissan is considering ending production at plants in SA, India and Argentina, and cutting the number of factories in Mexico, one of the sources said.

Japan's third-biggest carmaker unveiled sweeping new cost cuts on Tuesday, saying it would reduce its workforce by around 15% and cut production plants to 10 from 17 globally as it seeks to push through a turnaround.

The Yomiuri newspaper, which first reported the carmakers' possible closing of plants in Japan and overseas, said two factories in Mexico are under consideration.

Nissan said on its website reports on the potential closure of certain plants were speculative and not based on official information from the company.

"At this time we will not be providing further comments on this matter," Nissan said.

"We are committed to maintaining transparency with our stakeholders and will communicate any relevant updates as necessary."

The more aggressive turnaround steps unveiled by new CEO Ivan Espinosa mark a sharp break with Nissan's strategy under his predecessor Makoto Uchida, who had high hopes of expanding global production and had refused to close domestic plants.

The carmaker’s fiscal 2024 sales stood at 3.3-million vehicles, down 42% since the 2017 business year.

On Saturday, Nissan said it had previously announced it would consolidate production of Nissan Frontier and Navara pickups from Mexico and Argentina into a single production hub centralised around the Civac plant in Mexico.

It also said it had announced in March that French alliance partner Renault would buy out its stake in their joint Indian business, Renault Nissan Automotive India Private.

The domestic plant closures would mark Nissan's first since closing its Murayama factory in 2001.

Keeping only three home plants open — its Tochigi factory and the Nissan Motor Kyushu and Nissan Shatai Kyushu plants in southern Fukuoka prefecture — would be more than enough to service the domestic market and maintain exports from Japan, one source said.

The Oppama plant has annual capacity of around 240,000 cars and employed about 3,900 workers as of end-October. In 2010, it became Nissan's first plant to start producing the Leaf, widely considered the world's first mass market electric vehicle.

The Shonan plant, which produces commercial vans, has an annual capacity of around 150,000 units and employs about 1,200 people.

Nissan assembles the Navara one-tonne pickup at its factory in Rosslyn, which employs about 1,200 people.

The plant's production volumes have seen a decrease due to the discontinuation of the popular NP200 half-tonne bakkie. In 2024, production was under 20,000 units, a drop from the previous year's figure of nearly 25,000 units. 

The plant also experienced a decrease in sales for the Navara, with only 1,838 locally produced Navaras sold in the first four months of 2025. 

Nissan South Africa communications lead Thato Maphoto told TimesLIVE she cannot confirm reports the Rosslyn factory may shut down, as consultations are still happening internally.

The plant opened in 1966 and has built various Datsun and Nissan models, as well as cars from other brands including the Fiat Uno and Renault Sandero.