Nissan to close its Oppama plant in Japan to cut costs
Vehicle production at the Oppama plant in Kanagawa Prefecture south of Tokyo, will end at the end of the 2027 fiscal year, in March 2028, the Japanese automaker said Tuesday in a statement.
After that, all models that had been made or scheduled for production at Oppama will be made at Nissan Motor Kyushu, in Fukuoka Prefecture. The Oppama plant has been a prized symbol for Nissan Motor Corp., which rolled out its Leaf electric car there in 2010, ahead of key rivals.
The plant's closure was expected, as the maker of the Infiniti luxury models and March subcompact has said repeatedly that it is restructuring its operations to boost its profitability, including by consolidating production sites.
Nissan, based in the port city of Yokohama, says the tariff policies of President Donald Trump have hurt its bottom line.
Earlier this year, Nissan said it was slashing about 15% of its global work force, or about 20,000 employees, which would include a 9,000 head count reduction announced late last year, including in China.
The company has been racking up losses, hurt by slipping vehicle sales in China and elsewhere, huge restructuring costs and ballooning inventories.
Earlier this year, Nissan said it's reducing the number of its auto plants to 10 from 17 to 'create a leaner, more resilient business.'
At that time, it didn't say which plants were being closed but confirmed the closures will include factories in Japan. It's also reducing production capacity to 2.5 million units from 3.5 million.
Nissan racked up a loss of 670.9 billion yen ($4.5 billion) for the fiscal year through March, down from a 426.6 billion yen profit recorded in the previous fiscal year.
Its chief executive, Ivan Espinosa, took up the post in April and was set to speak to reporters later Tuesday. He replaced Makoto Uchida, who stepped down to take responsibility for the faltering results.
___
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
25 minutes ago
- Reuters
Southwest Airlines misses Q2 profit estimates as US travel demand wavers
July 23 (Reuters) - Southwest Airlines (LUV.N), opens new tab posted second-quarter profits that missed Wall Street estimates on Wednesday, hurt by weak travel demand in the domestic market. Lingering uncertainty about the broader economy and rising living costs in the aftermath of President Donald Trump's trade war have taken a toll on carriers that primarily service the U.S. domestic market and price-sensitive customers. To stimulate demand, they have been leaning on fare discounts. Southwest's shares were down 2% after the bell. The company said it expects $600 million-$800 million in earnings before interest and taxes this year, less than half its previous forecast of $1.7 billion. Still, Southwest said domestic leisure travel demand has stabilized and is showing signs of improvement. Southwest said its unit revenue, or revenue generated from each seat, in the current quarter is expected to be in the range of down 2% to up 2% from a year ago. In April, several major U.S. carriers scrapped their financial forecasts, citing uncertainty linked to President Donald Trump's broad tariff measures and government spending cuts, which pressured consumers to scale back travel plans. Since then, airline executives and analysts have signaled that demand trends and the broader travel environment are showing signs of steadiness. Even so, the domestic market remains under pressure, with cost-conscious travelers remaining cautious as household budgets tighten. Summer, typically the peak money-making season for airlines, is falling short this year as sluggish demand for standard economy seats forces carriers to cut fares, undermining their pricing power. Delta Air Lines (DAL.N), opens new tab and United Airlines (UAL.O), opens new tab have seen strong revenue gains from premium cabins, buoyed by affluent travelers willing to pay for upgrades. By contrast, low-fare carriers such as Southwest are under pressure to maintain profitability as price-sensitive travelers remain cautious with discretionary spending. Southwest reported an adjusted profit per share of 43 cents, compared with analysts' average expectations of 51 cents, according to data compiled by LSEG. It reported operating revenue of $7.24 billion in the quarter through June, compared with $7.35 billion a year earlier.
The Guardian
28 minutes ago
- The Guardian
US supreme court lets Trump fire three consumer product safety regulators
The US supreme court let Donald Trump on Wednesday remove three Democratic members of the government's top consumer product safety watchdog, boosting his power over federal agencies set up by Congress to be independent from presidential control. Granting a justice department request, the justices lifted Maryland-based US district judge Matthew Maddox's order that had blocked Trump from dismissing three Consumer Product Safety Commission members appointed by Democratic former president Joe Biden while a legal challenge to their removal proceeds. Maddox had ruled that Trump overstepped his authority in firing commissioners Mary Boyle, Alexander Hoehn-Saric and Richard Trumka Jr. The Consumer Product Safety Commission was created by Congress in 1972 and tasked with reducing the risk to consumers of injury or death from defective or harmful products. The agency sets safety standards, conducts product-safety investigations and issues recalls of hazardous products. To establish the five-member commission's independence from direct White House control, Congress authorized the president to fire commissioners only for neglect of duty or malfeasance, not at will. After being notified in May that Trump had fired them, Boyle, Hoehn-Saric and Trumka sued, arguing that their removals were without basis and that Trump had exceeded his authority. The staggered, seven-year terms of the commissioners were not set to expire until October 2025, 2027 and 2028, respectively, according to court filings. The justice department argued that the law shielding commissioners from being fired except for good cause violates the president's removal authority under the US constitution's provision delineating executive power. Maddox, a Biden appointee, sided with the commissioners in a 2 July ruling and ordered their reinstatement. The judge upheld the commission's removal protections under a nine-decade-old supreme court precedent that preserved similar protections for US Federal Trade Commission members. The Richmond, Virginia-based US fourth circuit court of appeals on 1 July denied the administration's request to halt Maddox's reinstatement order. This prompted the justice department's emergency filing to the supreme court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority. The commissioners in their supreme court filing urged the justices to reject the administration's request. They said that allowing the dismissals would deprive the American public of critical consumer safety expertise and oversight. In May, the supreme court in a similar case allowed Trump to remove two Democratic members of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) – despite job protections for these posts – while a legal challenge to those removals proceeded. The court in that ruling said the constitution gives the president wide latitude to fire government officials who wield executive power on his behalf and that the administration 'is likely to show that both the NLRB and MSPB exercise considerable executive power'. The supreme court has sided with Trump in a series of cases on an emergency basis since he returned to office in January, including clearing the way for his administration to pursue mass government job cuts, gut the Department of Education and implement some of his hardline immigration policies.
Sky News
an hour ago
- Sky News
Trump latest: White House says report about Trump being in Epstein files 'fake news'
The US and the EU are closing in on a tariffs deal, according to reports. Meanwhile, the US has signed what Trump calls "perhaps the largest deal ever made" with Japan. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is due to speak at 6pm. Follow live below.
