Nissan to Cut 9,000 Jobs Globally

Tokyo, Nov. 7 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Nissan Motor Co. said Thursday it will reduce its workforce by about 9,000 people worldwide and its global vehicle production capacity by 20 pct.
 

The automaker aims to recover profitability through restructuring after its earnings deteriorated due chiefly to sluggish sales in its mainstay North American and Chinese markets.
 

Nissan also announced a plan to sell an equity stake of up to 10 pct in Mitsubishi Motors Corp. to the alliance partner, of which Nissan holds 34 pct.
 

Nissan has no hybrid models for the North American market, where demand for hybrids is growing rapidly.
 

"We could not predict that (demand for) hybrids would expand so much," President and CEO Makoto Uchida told an online press conference. He said he will return 50 pct of his remuneration from this month to take the blame for the company's poor performance.
 

Nissan plans to accelerate the launches of plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles in the North American and Chinese markets.
 

Uchida said there are various ways to reduce production capacity and payrolls, but he declined to say when such structural reforms will be implemented.
 

Regarding Nissan's cooperation with Honda Motor Co. and Mitsubishi, he said that "the progress has not been bad and our policy will not change," explaining that Nissan seeks to improve its products through the collaboration.
 

If Nissan sells 10 pct of Mitsubishi shares at 460.6 yen apiece, at which Mitsubishi closed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Thursday, Nissan can procure about 68.6 billion yen.
 

Uchida said the planned sale of Mitsubishi shares has nothing with do with his company's financing. Chief Financial Officer Stephen Ma said Nissan has enough funds.
 

Also on Thursday, Nissan reported a consolidated net profit of 19.2 billion yen for April-September, down 93.5 pct from a year before.
 

Nissan's sales for the first half of fiscal 2024 inched down 1.3 pct to 5,984.2 billion yen, while its operating profit dived 90.2 pct to 32.9 billion yen.
 

The company revised down its operating profit forecast for the full year through March 2025 to 150 billion yen from 500 billion yen while retracting its net profit forecast, which had been put at 300 billion yen.
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