Latest news with #Espinosa
Scottish Sun
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Scottish Sun
Iconic carmaker thrown £1BILLION lifeline after axing 20k staff as fears grow over future of UK's biggest motor factory
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) AN ICONIC carmaker has been thrown a £1billion lifeline from the UK Government. The struggling car maker had announced plans to axe over 20,000 members of staff due to soaring production costs and disappointing sales. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 An iconic carmaker is on an urgent mission to save £5 billion Credit: Getty 2 Over 20,000 jobs could be cut as part of the brand's bid to save cash Credit: AFP Nissan is looking to raise £5.2billion to stay afloat, with UK Export Finance underwriting a £1billion loan - which will support the beleaguered company. The manufacturer is planning to cut its number of factories from 17 down to 10. This has prompted fears that the brand's Sunderland factory could be under threat. While Nissan has not confirmed the fate of its only UK factory, its CEO Ivan Espinosa has insisted that more electric cars will be produced there. It is hoped that the £1billion loan from Nissan's lenders, underwritten by The Government, will protect the site. The huge cash injection is just a fifth of the 1Trillion Yen needed by the company to survive. It will also look to issue as much as 630billion yen in convertible securities and bonds, including high-yield and euro notes. Reportedly, the firm is looking to sell-and-lease-back its Yokohama headquarters alongside several properties in the United States. The Yokohama site is valued at £500 million and was first opened in 2009. It has 22 floors and a glitzy gallery, along with thousands of workers who use the site every day. Japanese giant unveils its new bargain EV with quirky 'bug eye' headlights Finally, the struggling car manufacturer is eyeing a sale of its stakes in Renault and battery maker AESC Group. Mr Espinosa has commented in the past on Nissan's urgent cost-cutting mission. He said: 'In the face of challenging full-year 2024 performance and rising variable costs compounded by an uncertain environment, we must prioritise self-improvement with greater urgency and speed, aiming for profitability that relies less on volume." He added: 'As new management, we are taking a prudent approach to reassess our targets and actively seek every possible opportunity to implement and ensure a robust recovery.' Development on some Nissan models has been paused, whilst the company tries to balance its books. Work on all 'advanced and post-FY26 product activities' has been paused, though Nissan has not confirmed which particular vehicles will face suspension. Mr Espinosa has previously issued a full statement about Nissan's financial woes. He said: "This is not something that happened in the last couple of years. "It's more of a fundamental problem that probably started back in 2015, when management thought this company could reach [annual global vehicle sales] of around eight million. "There were heavy investments both in terms of planned capacity as well as in human resources, but the reality today is we are running at around half that volume. And nobody did anything to fix that until now.'
The Irish Sun
2 days ago
- Automotive
- The Irish Sun
Iconic carmaker thrown £1BILLION lifeline after axing 20k staff as fears grow over future of UK's biggest motor factory
AN ICONIC carmaker has been thrown a £1billion lifeline from the UK Government. The struggling car maker had announced plans to 2 An iconic carmaker is on an urgent mission to save £5 billion Credit: Getty 2 Over 20,000 jobs could be cut as part of the brand's bid to save cash Credit: AFP Nissan is The manufacturer is planning to cut its number of factories from 17 down to 10. This has prompted fears that the brand's Sunderland factory could be under threat. While Nissan has not confirmed the fate of its only UK factory, its CEO Ivan Espinosa has insisted that Read More on Car News It is hoped that the £1billion loan from The huge cash injection is just a fifth of the 1Trillion Yen needed by the company to survive. It will also look to issue as much as 630billion yen in convertible securities and bonds, including high-yield and euro notes. Reportedly, the firm is looking to Most read in Motors The Yokohama site is valued at £500 million and was first opened in 2009. It has 22 floors and a glitzy gallery, along with thousands of workers who use the site every day. Japanese giant unveils its new bargain EV with quirky 'bug eye' headlights Finally, the struggling car manufacturer is eyeing a sale of its stakes in Renault and battery maker AESC Group. He said: 'In the face of challenging full-year 2024 performance and rising variable costs compounded by an uncertain environment, we must prioritise self-improvement with greater urgency and speed, aiming for profitability that relies less on volume." He added: 'As new management, we are taking a prudent approach to reassess our targets and actively seek every possible opportunity to implement and ensure a robust recovery.' Development on some Work on all 'advanced and post-FY26 product activities' has been paused, though Nissan has not confirmed which particular vehicles will face suspension. Mr Espinosa has previously issued a full statement about Nissan's financial woes. He said: "This is not something that happened in the last couple of years. "It's more of a fundamental problem that probably started back in 2015, when management thought this company could reach [annual global vehicle sales] of around eight million. "There were heavy investments both in terms of planned capacity as well as in human resources, but the reality today is we are running at around half that volume. And nobody did anything to fix that until now.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Nissan Seeks to Raise $7 Billion With UK Government Backing
(Bloomberg) -- Nissan Motor Co., facing a huge loan repayment wall next year, is seeking to raise more than ¥1 trillion ($7 billion) from debt and asset sales to keep operations on track, according to internal documents seen by Bloomberg News. NY Wins Order Against US Funding Freeze in Congestion Fight The struggling Japanese automaker plans to issue as much as ¥630 billion in convertible securities and bonds, including high-yielding US dollar and euro notes, the documents show. Nissan also plans to take out a £1 billion ($1.4 billion) syndicated loan, guaranteed by UK Export Finance. Nissan operates Britain's largest automaking hub, in Sunderland. In addition, Nissan is seeking to sell part of the 15% stake it owns in Renault SA and the equity interest it has in battery maker AESC Group Ltd., as well as plants in South Africa and Mexico. Sale-and-lease-back plans for its Yokohama headquarters, plus properties it owns in the US, are also on the cards. Explainer: Behind Nissan's Downfall, and Can It Recover The carmaker's shares in Tokyo jumped as much as 4.6%, their biggest intraday rise in more than a week, before closing down 0.3%. With Nissan permitted to sell only a third of its Renault stake, that could potentially raise around 690 million euros ($781 million) at current prices. The aggressive and wide-ranging fundraising plans underscore Nissan's rapidly deteriorating financial and operational position, despite efforts by newly appointed Chief Executive Officer Ivan Espinosa to turn the company around. Espinosa presented the options to the board earlier this month, people familiar with the matter said, with the goal of securing some funding within the quarter that will end June 30. The funding proposal doesn't appear to have been approved by Nissan's board yet, leaving it unclear whether it will happen, the people said, declining to be identified discussing details that are private. The proposal is also slated to include the rollover of some debt. Representatives for Nissan didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson at UK Export Finance said in a statement that the organization does 'not comment on speculation around specific transactions.' The funding urgency stems from internal forecasts predicting that Nissan's car manufacturing operations will see excess cash dwindle to close to zero by the end of March 2026, the documents show. The projections are based on US tariffs remaining in place and no further cash injections. Nissan has sufficient capital of about ¥2.2 trillion in cash on hand and credit to last the next 12 to 18 months, Espinosa told Bloomberg TV earlier this month. 'We have a solid footing in terms of liquidity,' he said. Given the uncertainty over tariffs and the state of its business, Nissan didn't issue a profit outlook for the current fiscal year, saying only it expects to post sales of ¥12.5 trillion. Along with its group firms, Nissan is facing around $5.6 billion of debt due next year, the most in Bloomberg-compiled data going back to 1996. The internal documents viewed by Bloomberg also show that Nissan expects to see an operating loss of as much as ¥450 billion for the 12 months through March 2026 if higher tariffs remain in place. Without tariffs, the loss is forecast to be ¥300 billion. Either would mark the biggest operating deficit in the company's history. Espinosa announced plans earlier this month to eliminate 20,000 jobs and close seven of Nissan's 17 plants by March 2028 after the company reported a ¥671 billion net loss for most recent fiscal year. The measures follow the collapse of talks earlier this year to join forces with Honda Motor Co. Those discussions ended in part due to disagreements about Nissan's willingness to make deeper cuts to production and personnel. Nissan will likely close two factories in Japan as part of its restructuring and cost cutting process, people familiar with the matter said. Those targeted facilities are in Oppama and Hiratsuka, near Yokohama, and represent about 30% of domestic production. Various financial institutions have been lined up for the £1 billion in loans backed by UK Export Finance, which mainly supports British exporters. It will comprise one of the largest components of Nissan's planned fundraising. In the past, the agency has helped to secure financing for high-speed rail construction in Turkey and infrastructure in Angola. In Sunderland, Nissan has committed to boost electric vehicle production with a £2 billion investment. The British government has hailed the project as a vote of confidence in the country's automotive industry after years of uncertainty following Brexit. Earlier this month, AESC announced plans to push ahead with a second battery factory in Sunderland after getting financing support from UK Export Finance and the National Wealth Fund, as well as other investors. Formerly a Nissan affiliate, AESC is based in Japan and majority owned by Chinese interests. The recent UK-US trade deal could offer some reprieve to Nissan if it's able to export cars from Sunderland, which has an annual capacity of 500,000 units, at a lower tariff rate. US President Donald Trump's 25% tax on all vehicles imported into the US, which took effect in April, has cast a shadow over most global automakers. It would be costly for all of Japan's export-heavy carmakers, and especially painful for Nissan given its precarious financial state. Nissan has said it has ¥2.1 trillion in unused credit lines in addition to its own liquid reserves, but cash flow turned negative in its latest fiscal year and ratings agencies have cut the company's creditworthiness status to junk. --With assistance from Joe Mayes. (Updates with Nissan's Renault stake value in 4th paragraph.) Mark Zuckerberg Loves MAGA Now. Will MAGA Ever Love Him Back? Millions of Americans Are Obsessed With This Japanese Barbecue Sauce Why Apple Still Hasn't Cracked AI Inside the First Stargate AI Data Center How Coach Handbags Became a Gen Z Status Symbol ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Business Times
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Business Times
Nissan plans one trillion yen funding with backing from UK government
[TOKYO] Nissan Motor, facing a huge loan repayment wall next year, is seeking to raise more than one trillion yen (S$8.9 billion) from debt and asset sales to keep operations on track, according to documents seen by Bloomberg News. The struggling Japanese automaker plans to issue as much as 630 billion yen in convertible securities and bonds, including high-yielding US dollar and euro notes, the documents show. Nissan also plans to take out a £1 billion (S$1.7 billion) syndicated loan, guaranteed by UK Export Finance. In addition, Nissan is seeking to sell part of the stakes it owns in Renault and battery maker AESC Group, as well as plants in South Africa and Mexico. Sale-and-lease-back plans for its Yokohama headquarters, plus properties it owns in the US, are also on the cards. The aggressive and wide-ranging fundraising plans underscore Nissan's rapidly deteriorating financial and operational position, despite efforts by newly appointed chief executive officer Ivan Espinosa to turn the company around. Espinosa presented the options to the board earlier this month, sources familiar with the matter said, with the goal of securing some funding within the quarter that will end Jun 30. The funding proposal does not appear to have been approved by Nissan's board yet, leaving it unclear whether it will happen, the sources said, declining to be identified discussing details that are private. The proposal is also slated to include the rollover of some debt. Representatives for Nissan did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson at UK Export Finance said in a statement that the organisation does 'not comment on speculation around specific transactions'. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up The funding urgency stems from internal forecasts predicting that Nissan's car manufacturing operations will see excess cash dwindle to close to zero by the end of March 2026, the documents show. The projections are based on US tariffs remaining in place and no further cash injections. Nissan has sufficient capital of about 2.2 trillion yen in cash on hand and credit to last the next 12 to 18 months, Espinosa told Bloomberg TV earlier this month. 'We have a solid footing in terms of liquidity,' he said. Given the uncertainty over tariffs and the state of its business, Nissan did not issue a profit outlook for the current fiscal year, saying only it expects to post sales of 12.5 trillion yen. Along with its group firms, Nissan is facing around US$5.6 billion of debt due next year, the most in Bloomberg-compiled data going back to 1996. The internal documents viewed by Bloomberg also show that Nissan expects to see an operating loss of as much as 450 billion yen for the 12 months to March 2026 if higher tariffs remain in place. Without tariffs, the loss is forecast to be 300 billion yen. Either would mark the biggest operating deficit in the company's history. Espinosa announced plans earlier this month to eliminate 20,000 jobs and close seven of Nissan's 17 plants by March 2028 after the company reported a 671 billion yen net loss for the most recent fiscal year. The measures follow the collapse of talks earlier this year to join forces with Honda Motor. Those discussions ended in part due to disagreements about Nissan's willingness to make deeper cuts to production and personnel. Nissan will close two factories in Japan, as well as locations in four other countries as part of its restructuring and cost-cutting process, the Yomiuri newspaper and other news outlets have reported, citing unidentified sources. In Japan, the targeted facilities are in Oppama and Hiratsuka, near Yokohama, and represent about 30 per cent of domestic production. Various financial institutions have been lined up for the £1 billion in loans backed by UK Export Finance, which mainly supports British exporters. It will comprise one of the largest components of Nissan's planned fundraising. In the past, the agency has helped to secure financing for high-speed rail construction in Turkey and infrastructure in Angola. Nissan operates Britain's largest automaking hub in Sunderland, and has committed to boost electric vehicle production at the facility with a £2 billion investment. The British government has hailed the project as a vote of confidence in the country's automotive industry after years of uncertainty following Brexit. Earlier this month, AESC announced plans to push ahead with a second battery factory in Sunderland after getting financing support from UK Export Finance and the National Wealth Fund, as well as other investors. Formerly a Nissan affiliate, AESC is based in Japan and majority owned by Chinese interests. The recent UK-US trade deal could offer some reprieve to Nissan if it's able to export cars from Sunderland, which has an annual capacity of 500,000 units, without incurring tariffs. US President Donald Trump's 25 per cent tax on all vehicles imported into the US, which took effect in April, has cast a shadow over most global automakers. It would be costly for all of Japan's export-heavy carmakers, and especially painful for Nissan given its precarious financial state. Nissan has said it has 2.1 trillion yen in unused credit lines in addition to its own liquid reserves, but cash flow turned negative in its latest fiscal year and ratings agencies have cut the company's creditworthiness status to junk. BLOOMBERG
Straits Times
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Straits Times
Nissan plans $8.9 billion funding with backing from UK government as it faces record debt
The struggling Japanese automaker is facing around US$5.6 billion of debt due next year, the most in Bloomberg-compiled data going back to 1996. PHOTO: REUTERS TOKYO - Nissan Motor, facing a huge loan repayment wall in 2026, is seeking to raise more than 1 trillion yen (S$8.9 billion) from debt and asset sales to keep operations on track, according to documents seen by Bloomberg News. The struggling Japanese automaker plans to issue as much as 630 billion yen in convertible securities and bonds, including high-yielding US dollar and euro notes, the documents show. Nissan also plans to take out a £1 billion (S$1.7 billion) syndicated loan, guaranteed by UK Export Finance. In addition, Nissan is seeking to sell part of the stakes it owns in Renault and battery maker AESC Group, as well as plants in South Africa and Mexico. Sale-and-lease-back plans for its Yokohama headquarters, plus properties it owns in the United States, are also on the cards. The aggressive and wide-ranging fundraising plans underscore Nissan's rapidly deteriorating financial and operational position, despite efforts by newly appointed chief executive officer Ivan Espinosa to turn the company around. Mr Espinosa presented the options to the board earlier in May, people familiar with the matter said, with the goal of securing some funding within the quarter that will end June 30. The funding proposal doesn't appear to have been approved by Nissan's board yet, leaving it unclear whether it will happen, the people said. The funding urgency stems from internal forecasts predicting that Nissan's car manufacturing operations will see excess cash dwindle to close to zero by the end of March 2026, the documents show. The projections are based on US tariffs remaining in place and no further cash injections. Nissan has sufficient capital of about 2.2 trillion yen in cash on hand and credit to last the next 12 to 18 months, Mr Espinosa told Bloomberg TV earlier this month. 'We have a solid footing in terms of liquidity,' he said. Given the uncertainty over tariffs and the state of its business, Nissan didn't issue a profit outlook for the current fiscal year, saying only it expects to post sales of 12.5 trillion yen. Along with its group firms, Nissan is facing around US$5.6 billion of debt due next year, the most in Bloomberg-compiled data going back to 1996. The internal documents viewed by Bloomberg also show that Nissan expects to see an operating loss of as much as 450 billion yen for the 12 months through March 2026 if higher tariffs remain in place. Without tariffs, the loss is forecast to be 300 billion yen. Either would mark the biggest operating deficit in the company's history. Mr Espinosa announced plans earlier in May to eliminate 20,000 jobs and close seven of Nissan's 17 plants by March 2028 after the company reported a 671 billion yen net loss for most recent fiscal year. The measures follow the collapse of talks earlier in 2025 to join forces with Honda Motor. Those discussions ended in part due to disagreements about Nissan's willingness to make deeper cuts to production and personnel. Various financial institutions have been lined up for the £1 billion in loans backed by UK Export Finance, which mainly supports British exporters. Nissan operates Britain's largest automaking hub in Sunderland, and has committed to boost electric vehicle production at the facility with a £2 billion investment. The British government has hailed the project as a vote of confidence in the country's automotive industry after years of uncertainty following Brexit. Earlier in May, AESC announced plans to push ahead with a second battery factory in Sunderland after getting financing support from UK Export Finance and the National Wealth Fund, as well as other investors. Formerly a Nissan affiliate, AESC is based in Japan and majority owned by Chinese interests. BLOOMBERG Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
