Japanese automaker Nissan has unveiled one of the most sweeping restructuring plans in its history, announcing it will cut 15% of its global workforce and nearly halve its manufacturing plants as it reels from a sharp financial downturn intensified by U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war policies.
According to a report by the Financial Times, Nissan will eliminate 20,000 jobs worldwide — more than double its earlier projection — and reduce its factories from 17 to just 10. The radical shake-up comes as the company faces spiraling costs, a collapse in merger talks, and intensifying competition from low-cost Chinese manufacturers.
“The results are a wake-up call,” said Ivan Espinosa, Nissan’s newly appointed CEO. “We wouldn’t be doing this if it was not necessary for our survival.”
For the fiscal year ending March 30, Nissan posted a loss of ¥670 billion ($4.5 billion), a stark reversal from the ¥426 billion profit it recorded the previous year. The company also cited ¥450 billion in added costs for the current fiscal year stemming from U.S. tariffs. While it expects to offset around 30% of those expenses through internal measures, the impact remains severe.
Trump’s aggressive trade tariffs have cast a long shadow over the global auto industry, and Nissan is among the hardest hit. Even rival automaker Honda, which reported a projected ¥650 billion tariff-related hit, has postponed its $11 billion electric vehicle and battery plant investment in Canada as a result.
The effects of the tariffs have forced Japanese carmakers to rethink long-term strategies. Both Nissan and Honda are increasing production in the U.S. to lessen exposure to border taxes, and Nissan is now exploring ways to lease unused factory capacity to competitors — including Honda and Mitsubishi Motors — in the U.S. market.
Espinosa, a Mexican national who took the reins in April, declined to specify which plants would be shuttered but confirmed that operations in Japan would be part of the review. He also noted that the company’s UK facility in Sunderland is under consideration for increased electric vehicle production, potentially in partnership with former ally Renault.
Nissan’s latest moves mark a significant acceleration from its prior restructuring efforts, which had already cost the company $5.9 billion and led to leadership upheaval and the scaling back of its two-decade alliance with France’s Renault.
The carmaker’s annual production capacity will fall to 2.5 million vehicles by 2027 under the new plan, down from the 3.3 million units it sold last year. The company has also suspended its financial forecasts due to the ongoing uncertainty surrounding trade policy and global demand.
Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe summed up the prevailing sentiment among Japan’s automotive giants: “The impact of tariff policies is huge… This is the bottom. I think the tariff impact will continue to change as time goes by.”
As Nissan battles mounting losses and restructures its global footprint, the combined pressures of geopolitical turmoil, shifting consumer trends, and a sluggish pivot to electric vehicles have forced the company — and the broader industry — into a period of existential reckoning.
