Nissan cuts 12,500 jobs, more than double planes

TOKYO – Nissan Motor intends to cut about 12,500 jobs by the end of March 2023, cutting nearly 10% of the global workforce by around 130,000, the Japanese automaker said on Thursday.

accept early retirement packages, the company said.

"We have already begun to stop production lines and make positions at eight of our operating points," said CEO Hiroto Saikawa in the car manufacturer's revenue statement. "We look at six further locations."

CEO noted that positions and job closures will focus on unprofitable foreign factory lines, especially those created or expanded under Carlos Ghosn's investment strategy "Power 88".

This business plan was announced in 201[ads1]1, when the former chairman of the board sought to increase the company's global market share.

"Factories that have produced compact, small cars, such as the Datsun brand," will be included in the reductions, Saikawa said.

Ghosn was arrested in November last year in charges for making false accounts. He is awaiting trial in Japan on a longer list of charges, including abuse of Nissan's money. Ghosn denies all charges against him.

During Thursday's briefing, Saikawa downgraded the reductions. "Although we cut 12,500 jobs," he said, "globally, our labor is 10 times that."

On the same day, Nissan announced that the consolidated operating revenue fell 99% over the April-June quarter, to about 1.6 billion yen ($ 14.8 million).

Nissan in May had revealed a plan to defeat 4,800 jobs. But a serious drop in sales, especially in the crucial US market, has convinced the management that deeper cuts are needed to arouse a turnaround.

On Thursday, the company also revealed a revised mid-term plan, reducing the sales outlook for the year ending March 2023 to 14.5 trillion yen, 2 trillion yen less than in the original plan. Saikawa said the car manufacturer could reach this goal by "producing 6 million cars, which would result in a profit margin of around 6%."