Nissan Motor Co. disclosed reported a massive net loss of ¥671 billion ($6.2 billion) for the latest fiscal year and plan to eliminate their annual fixed cost of ¥300 billion by cutting capacity and eliminating the production of some vehicle models from current 69 to less than 55. Their four-year plans are cutting 20% production to about 5.4 million vehicles a year and closing the Barcelona and Indonesia plant. Indonesia manufactured items will move to Thailand, while European production will be centred in Sutherland, United Kingdom. The company will be focusing on certain geographic areas such as Japan, China and the United States to enhance profitability and efficiency than sales size.
The closing of the Barcelona plant will affect directly to 3,000 jobs loses and indirectly to 20,000 more on Nissan’s supply chain. The union workers in Barcelona is protesting in front of the factory in response to the decisions.
Nissan sales for the fiscal year through March reported around ¥9.9 trillion, fell by 15% compared to last fiscal year, and the shares fell 29% through the same year. No outlook earnings issued as the global pandemic rise uncertainties over the business. In addition, 319.1 billion yen profit reported in the same fiscal year. The company also acknowledge that it has sufficient liquidity to survive this challenging business environment with cash and equivalents of ¥1.5 trillion and access to credit bordering on ¥1.3 trillion.
Nissan alliance with Renault and Mitsubishi which controls ten automotive brands; Nissan, Renault, Mitsubishi, Infiniti, Datsun, Renault Samsung, Alpine, Dacia, Lada and Venucia, also announced plans to share development, technology and purchasing to slash costs and heighten their competitiveness.
