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Reuters
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Reuters
Factory that symbolised Nissan's rise may become victim of its decline
YOKOSUKA, Japan, May 29 (Reuters) - When Nissan's (7201.T), opens new tab Oppama plant opened in 1961, it was one of Japan's first large-scale auto factories and a symbol of the company's global ambitions. Sixty-four years and millions of cars later, the storied plant now faces possible closure as Nissan sinks deeper into crisis. New Chief Executive Ivan Espinosa unveiled sweeping cost cuts this month that included plans to shed 15% of the global workforce and close seven factories worldwide. Battered by declining sales in the United States and China, Nissan faces a mountain of debt repayment and is scrambling to upgrade its ageing line-up of vehicles. The Japanese automaker hasn't said which of its 17 plants will be closed. Reuters reported this month that Oppama, in the port city of Yokosuka south of Tokyo, was being considered, as was another, smaller plant in Japan. Factories in South Africa, India, Argentina and Mexico could also be closed, Reuters has reported. "There won't be any big companies left," said Kunito Watanabe, a longtime Yokosuka resident who has already seen supermarkets and a major bank close their doors. Watanabe said he worked for a small trucking company and business was dependent on the Oppama plant. "As long as they are making cars here, we're okay. But if that stops, my company will shut down." Shuttering Oppama, long dubbed Nissan's "mother factory", would be an almost incalculable blow for its 3,900 employees and their families, the city of Yokosuka, and Japan itself. Once the world leader in everything from chips to TVs and stereos, Japan is no longer dominant in electronics and semiconductors, making it more reliant on an auto industry increasingly threatened by Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab and Chinese EV makers. Nissan's willingness to cut jobs at home is the latest sign that the lifetime-employment social contract that governed Japan's postwar era is slowly unravelling. Built on the site of a former Japanese naval airfield and roughly the size of more than 200 soccer fields, the Oppama factory includes a research centre, a test-drive course and a shipping hub. It was the birthplace of the Leaf, Nissan's first mass-market EV, which was launched in 2010. Production of that car, the world's top-selling EV model for years until it was eclipsed by Tesla, has since been moved to Tochigi, a refurbished plant that is not being considered for closure. Oppama used to produce the Bluebird, once one of Nissan's best known cars and sold as the Altima in the United States. Now it makes the smaller Note and Aura models. Nissan is Yokosuka's top employer and one of the city's major taxpayers, local officials said, making it an essential part of life in the city of 370,000 people. The factory represents Yokosuka's transition from a military to civilian economy during the post-war years. The U.S. Navy still has a base in the city and the shipbuilding arm of Sumitomo Heavy Industries has a plant, although it has stopped taking new orders, according to its parent company. "As Nissan grew and developed, the surrounding area developed as well," said Kenji Muramatsu, a Yokosuka municipal official. "The entire town was essentially built around the Oppama factory." In the boom years of the early 1990s, new cars streamed off the production lines and the streets around Yokosuka were jammed with the vehicles of Nissan employees heading to and from work, Muramatsu recalled. Today, the area around the local train station is a mix of slightly shabby and shuttered low-rise buildings that are slated to be demolished for redevelopment. During Nissan's heyday, Yokosuka became known as one of several "motor cities" in Japan. It was also home to a plant of a Toyota Group company which closed in 2000 and another Nissan plant, which shut in 2010. Typically, when Japanese factories close, workers are reassigned to other plants. Nissan is now offering early retirement to some employees. One Oppama worker, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said Nissan had been asking for volunteers to take early retirement packages, focusing its attention on employees in administrative roles rather than on production lines. If the plant is closed, those who keep their jobs will potentially face the hard choice of living apart from their families or uprooting their households from Yokosuka, said the worker, who was in their 50s and had only ever worked for Nissan. Kaoru Takahashi first worked at the plant more than 40 years ago when she was still a teenager. In her twenties, she did another stint, removing rust spots from car bodies during production. She no longer works there, but said she knows people who do. "I feel really bad for the workers who have families and children, who bought houses and have mortgages to pay," she said. "Subcontractors will also have a hard time," she added, rattling off the sorts of service workers reliant on the factory for their livelihoods: rubbish collectors, cafeteria workers, cleaners. Akio Kamataki, 72, runs a bustling "tachinomiya" (standing bar) near the station. It has been in business at the same spot since 1925, first as a ceramics shop and later as a general store. Kamataki likes to quip it is older than Nissan. "The Oppama factory is a source of pride" for locals, he said. "I still buy Nissan cars and I like them. I haven't driven other brands recently, but I like Nissan's brakes - the way they respond." Decades ago, the Oppama plant would be mentioned in elementary school textbooks, he said. Kamataki had expected to close down for good in March because of the redevelopment project around the station area. But the project has since been pushed back. "Now I wonder which will close first," he said, with a grim laugh. "The Nissan plant or my bar."
Auto Blog
20-05-2025
- Automotive
- Auto Blog
Japanese Officials Beg Nissan to Keep Local Factory Open
According to recent reports by Reuters and Nikkei Asia, Japanese automaker Nissan may be shutting down some of its manufacturing operations in Japan and emerging markets as part of its aggressive and ambitious restructuring plan. Sources tell the outlets that two of the brand's Japanese factories, both in the Kanagawa prefecture, are on the chopping block. Specifically, the two plants in question are Nissan's main Oppama plant in Yokosuka and the Shonan plant of its Nissan Shatai unit, a plant that produces commercial vehicles. The two plants comprise a large chunk of Nissan's production capacity in Japan. The loss of the Oppama plant, the first Nissan plant to mass produce electric vehicles, would greatly impact the automaker as it's a popular tourist attraction in the area, has an annual production capacity of around 240,000 vehicles, and employs 3,900 people in manufacturing and research roles. Nissan Oppama Plant — Source: Nissan However, according to reports by the Japanese business publication Kyodo News, some factory workers stated that Nissan told employees at the Oppama plant on Monday, May 19, that reports of its planned closure were not definitive. In addition, Kanagawa prefectural government officials held an emergency meeting the same day to discuss plans to offer reemployment and consultation services to potentially affected employees if the plant closes. 'If they really do close, it will have a huge impact on employment and the economy,' Kanagawa Gov. Yuji Kuroiwa said at the meeting. 'We will consider our options from a multitude of angles.' Kuroiwa also noted that Nissan contacted the prefecture on Saturday after the reports from Reuters and Nikkei surfaced, which was followed by a visit to the prefectural office on Monday to inform them that nothing had been decided. Local government officials reportedly told Nissan that they hoped the automaker would consider the potential consequences if it closed its facilities. During a May 19 press conference, Yokosuka Mayor Katsuaki Kamiji noted that the plant has had a rich history in the city for nearly 60 years and said that he hopes it will be 'restored to its former brilliance.' Nissan Oppama Plant — Source: Nissan Nissan is also considering ending production in other countries The potential plans to close the Japanese plants are related to Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa's Re:Nissan consolidation plans, which were revealed during a presentation highlighting financial results for the company's 2024-2025 fiscal year. The plans include job cuts affecting about 20,000 people and heavy shifts to its global production capacity, including the shutdown of seven global assembly plants to reduce its global production to just 10 plants by the end of the 2027-2028 fiscal year. According to a source who spoke to Reuters, Nissan is considering shuttering plants in South Africa, India, Argentina, and Mexico. A Nikkei Asia report states that two of the company's three Mexican factories that are on the chopping block include the CIVAC Plant, which has been making vehicles in the country since 1961. Last month, Nissan Latin America said it would consolidate production of its Frontier and Navara pickups from its plants in Mexico and Argentina into a single production hub centered around the plant. Final thoughts The stories that have surfaced through Japanese business news outlets remind me of a quote regarding the ~20K job cuts that Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa said during his announcement of the Re:Nissan plan last week. 'It is a very, very painful and sad decision to take. We wouldn't be doing this if it were not necessary for the survival of Nissan,' Espinosa said. 'Are we confident that this is enough? The answer is yes, this will be enough to drive the results that we need, but we need to move fast. We want to bring the heartbeat back.' Espinosa and the rest of the Nissan C-Suite have a lot on their hands when it comes to Nissan's future. However, a bloated production capacity is just one of a long list of problems that came long before the Trump Administration's tariff-heavy trade policies. For now, we have to keep an eye on the restructuring process from start to finish and see how things will go for the storied Japanese automaker.
CNA
16-05-2025
- Automotive
- CNA
Nissan plans to shut Japan's Oppama, Shonan plants under restructuring, Yomiuri says
TOKYO :Nissan is preparing plans to close two car assembly plants in Japan, namely its Oppama plant and its subsidiary Nissan Shatai's Shonan plant, as the Japanese automaker restructures, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Saturday. Overseas, Nissan is considering a plan to end vehicle production at plants in South Africa, India and Argentina, and close two factories in Mexico, Yomiuri said.
