Nissan is cutting another 11,000 jobs and closing seven factories around the world as it tries to turn things around after a tough year of poor sales.
The Japanese carmaker has been hit hard by dropping demand in China and heavy discounting in the US—its two biggest markets. A planned merger with Honda and Mitsubishi also fell apart in February, which would’ve created one of the world’s biggest car companies.
These latest job cuts bring the total layoffs over the past year to around 20,000—about 15% of Nissan’s entire workforce.
It’s still unclear where exactly the new job losses will happen or if Nissan’s massive plant in Sunderland (which employs around 6,000 people) will be impacted.
Nissan says two-thirds of the cuts will be from factory jobs, and the rest will hit roles in sales, admin, research, and contract work. Most of the company’s 133,500 employees work in manufacturing.
The company is also scaling back production, aiming to cut global output by 20% after already axing 9,000 jobs back in November.
That failed merger with Honda? It was meant to help Nissan stay competitive—especially against Chinese rivals—but the deal fell through after the two sides couldn’t agree on the terms. It would’ve created a $60 billion global giant, ranking just behind Toyota, Volkswagen, and Hyundai in vehicle sales.
After the collapse of the deal, Nissan replaced its then-CEO Makoto Uchida with Ivan Espinosa, who previously led the company’s planning and motorsports divisions.
To make matters worse, Nissan posted a $4.5 billion loss last year, partly due to rising costs and tariffs introduced by US President Donald Trump. Espinosa called it a “wake-up call” and admitted that the past year had been full of challenges.
Looking ahead, Nissan isn’t giving any financial forecasts for the coming year, citing too much uncertainty—especially around US tariffs.
Just last week, it scrapped plans to build a new battery and EV factory in Japan, cutting back on future investment while it tries to steady the ship.
