TOKYO :Nissan is preparing plans to shut two car assembly plants in Japan and considering closing two factories in Mexico, as the automaker restructures, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Saturday.
Nissan said in a statement on its website that recent reports on the potential closure of certain plants were speculative and not based on any official information of the company.
“At this time, we will not be providing further comments on this matter,” Nissan said in the statement. “We are committed to maintaining transparency with our stakeholders and will communicate any relevant updates as necessary.”
Yomiuri said the factories in Japan that would be closed were the Oppama plant, where Nissan started production in 1961, and the Shonan plant operated by Nissan Shatai, in which Nissan is a 50 per cent stakeholder.
Overseas, Nissan is considering ending production at plants in South Africa, India and Argentina, and closing two factories in Mexico, according to Yomiuri, citing unnamed sources.
Japan’s third-biggest automaker unveiled sweeping new cost cuts earlier this week, saying it would reduce its workforce by around 15 per cent and cut production plants to 10 from 17 globally as it seeks to push through a turnaround.
In its statement on Saturday, Nissan said it had previously announced it would consolidate production of Nissan Frontier and Navara pickups from Mexico and Argentina into a single production hub centralised around the Civac plant in Mexico.
It also said that it had announced in March that French alliance partner Renault would buy out its stake in their joint Indian business, Renault Nissan Automotive India Private Ltd (RNAIPL).
The domestic plant closures would mark Nissan’s first since closing its Murayama factory in 2001, Yomiuri said.
The Oppama plant has annual capacity of around 240,000 cars and employed about 3,900 workers as of end-October. In 2010, it became Nissan’s first plant to start production of the Leaf, widely considered the world’s first mass-market electric vehicle.
The Shonan plant, which produces commercial vans, has an annual capacity of around 150,000 units and employs about 1,200 people, according to Yomiuri.
