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
The Independent
4 minutes ago
- The Independent
Why your matcha latte is about to get a lot more expensive
Matcha prices are soaring due to record temperatures in Japan and a significant increase in global demand. Japan's Kyoto region, a key producer of tencha (the base for matcha), experienced severe heatwaves last summer, resulting in weak yields during the recent April-May harvest. The popularity of matcha has surged, with sales in the UK rising by 202 per cent in 2023, driven by social media trends and Japan's post-pandemic tourism boom. Farmers are reporting reduced harvests, and importers are struggling to meet demand, with some cafes experiencing rapid stock depletion. New US tariffs of 15 per cent on Japanese imports are anticipated to further increase matcha prices, despite concerns from distributors who argue the product should be exempt.
The Guardian
4 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Starmer faces task of persuading Trump to take different path on Gaza crisis
Moments after Air Force One touched down at Prestwick on Friday, for a trip in which politics will take as big a billing as golf, Donald Trump was asked about his relationship with Keir Starmer. 'I like your prime minister. He's slightly more liberal than I am, as you've probably heard. But he's a good man,' the US president told reporters. At a time when the UK wants Trump's ear on numerous weighty issues, his response to questions about the 'special relationship' will have given Downing Street some reassurance. But it has been hard won. Starmer has been clear since before Trump's re-election that he would work with him if it was in Britain's national interest. There have been uncomfortable moments, but so far his decision to align himself with the US president has broadly paid off. Most notable was the economic deal agreed by the two leaders which slashes some of Trump's tariffs on cars, aluminium and steel, and which – even though it is not yet fully implemented – the UK government hopes will be a first step towards a closer trading relationship. Starmer, along with other western allies, has also helped encourage Trump to shift his position on Ukraine. After initially siding with Vladimir Putin and appearing to blame Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the invasion, the US president now declares himself 'very unhappy' with his Russian counterpart. The prime minister now faces his toughest diplomatic task of all: trying to persuade Trump to take a different path on the humanitarian crisis in the Middle East. Even getting the issue on the agenda will not have been straightforward, with the White House not regarding Gaza as a priority. Trump is the only international leader whom the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, listens to – and even then, not all of the time – so getting the US president's ear at this precise moment is an opportunity not to be squandered. With international fury over the situation on the ground in Gaza growing, Starmer has also been under pressure domestically – from his cabinet, Labour MPs and increasingly the public – to take further action against Israel. Government advisers are defensive – citing what the UK has already done to hold Israel to account since Labour came to power – and promising further action will follow, even if it is not clear what that might constitute. They point to the UK restoring funding to the UN agency Unrwa, sanctioning far-right Israeli ministers and those who committed settler violence, breaking off trade negotiations with Israel, backing the legitimacy of the international criminal court and restricting arms licences to Israel (though not preventing them entirely). Sign up to Headlines UK Get the day's headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion The initial urgency is around humanitarian aid, with mass starvation spreading across Gaza, and Starmer will be hoping to persuade Trump that the situation on the ground will only worsen unless the Israelis fully lift their blockade of almost all aid into the territory. The longer-term prize, however, would be a ceasefire. Starmer will press Trump to revive ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas, after the US and Israel withdrew their negotiation teams from Qatar last week. Getting them back round the table to agree a 60-day break from fighting is a prerequisite to a more permanent cessation of violence. The window of opportunity is narrow: the Israeli parliament is not sitting until October, which gives Netanyahu the cover he would need to agree a deal. But Starmer knows Trump is the only international figure who can put pressure on him to do so. Only at that point does Starmer feel the UK could follow France and formally recognise a Palestine state. No 10 insiders insist it is a 'matter of when, not if' and David Lammy, the foreign secretary, will be at a UN conference this week to establish a pathway to formal recognition. To the deep frustration of many in his party, the prime minister last week rejected a call to follow France in recognising Palestine amid concerns the move would be largely symbolic without a ceasefire in place, and that issue could overshadow the talks with Trump. But that means that even more rides on Monday's meeting with the US president. It will be a test of whether the energy put into maintaining a good relationship with Trump has been worth it. And it will also show how far Starmer really is prepared to push to help bring an end to the catastrophe in Gaza.
Daily Mail
34 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Trump blasts 'one-sided' trade as he meets EU Commission president on 'biggest deal' while raging at windmills at his golf course in Scotland
President Donald Trump inveighed against 'one-sided' trade with Europe as he sat down at his Turnberry golf course with the EU Commission president, while raging against windmills and saying there were prospects for reaching a deal imminently. 'It's been a very one-sided transaction – very unfair to the United States,' he complained as EU Commission Chair Ursula von der Leyen sat next to him, keeping her hands in her lap and her expressions muted. 'It's been a very very one-sided deal, and it shouldn't be,' Trump fumed. He said a deal, if it can be reached, would be the biggest deal 'ever struck by anybody.' His attacks quickly changed to wind turbines he said obstructs the view from his Scottish golf course. 'It ruins the landscape it kills the birds. They're noisy,' Trump complained. He said what he terms windmills in Massachusetts were 'driving them loco – driving them crazy.' Today I'm playing the best course, I think, in the world: Turnberry ... And I look over the horizon and I see nine windmills. I say isn't that a shame,' he said. On immigration, another tension point, Trump said: 'We've sealed our borders. We have nobody coming in ... I think they're going to end up in the same place. You might as well go there quicker.' The two leaders sat in the Donald J. Trump ballroom – one Trump said he wishes he could simply drop down inside the White House, where he has plans for a new ballroom. 'It's a great honor. You know we just built this ballroom,' Trump told her. The president is set to put some of the 'working' into his 'working trip' with a meeting set with The meeting came after Trump spent a second day on his Turnberry golf course Sunday – after raging at rivals from Democrats to Beyonce overnight. This time, he golfed just with his son Eric, despite touting a littany of big shots he said would be staying at his private course. 'We'll have numerous executives that we're meeting with – lot of them. We're going to be meeting with a lot of people. A lot of people will be staying at Turnberry,' Trump said after landing Friday night. His aides are calling it a 'working visit' – although he has made time to play his course for two successive days. There is a typically massive security footprint – including the rollout of a new armoured golf court after a phalanx of agents swept his course in search of potential security threats. The last minute addition to his schedule has Trump going toe-to-toe with a top European leader days after he said there was a 'fifty-fifty' chance of reaching a trade deal. If Trump wanted to send a message about what kind of contender she was dealing with, he posted a short video of himself swinging a driver at one of the tees on his Turnberry course. Trump also put in plug by golf legend Gary Player, quoting him as saying 'Turnberry is, without a question, in the Top Five Greatest Golf Courses I've ever played in my 73 years as a pro.' 'Thank you, Gary!' Trump added. Not all of his musings were upbeat – on a trip that Trump began by railing against wind turbines and illegal immigration. Trump used his site to fire at Democrats about the 2024 election, after spending part of the week accusing President Barack Obama of 'treason' after his administration released declassified documents about Russian election interference intelligence assessments. 'I'm looking at the large amount of money owed by the Democrats, after the Presidential Election, and the fact that they admit to paying, probably illegally, $11 million to singer Beyoncé for an endorsement (she never sang, not one note, and left the stage to a booing and angry audience!), $3 million for 'expenses,' to Oprah, $600,000 to very low rated TV 'anchor,' Al Sharpton (a total lightweight!), and others to be named for doing, absolutely nothing!' he wrote, sprinkling in all-caps. The Kamala Harris campaign has long denied paying for any endorsements. Oprah Winfrey has said she was 'not paid a time' to appear with Harris, although the campaign picked up production costs of the event. FEC filings show the Harris camp gave $165,000 to Beyonce's production company, Parkwood Prduction Media LLC, Trump called it 'totally illegal to pay for an endorsement and added that 'Kamala, and all those that received endorsement money, broke the law,' again using all caps.
