TOKYO (AP) — Nissan Motor Corp., headquartered in Yokohama, announced on Thursday that it has logged a loss for the most recent fiscal quarter, attributing this downturn to plummeting vehicle sales alongside escalating costs and mounting inventory. In response, the automaker revealed plans to eliminate 9,000 jobs, equating to approximately 6% of its global workforce of over 133,000 employees.
Chief Executive Makoto Uchida has taken a personal stance on these disappointing results, stating he will be cutting his salary by 50%. He reaffirmed his commitment to leading the company through a necessary turnaround.
For the quarter ending in September, Nissan reported a loss of 9.3 billion yen ($60 million), a stark contrast to the profit of 190.7 billion yen that the company achieved during the same period last year. Meanwhile, quarterly sales dipped to 2.9 trillion yen ($19 billion) from 3.1 trillion yen.
Nissan’s performance in the U.S. market, one of the most lucrative automotive arenas globally, has particularly struggled, with the company facing stiff competition from industry giants like Ford, Toyota, and Tesla.
Uchida acknowledged that Nissan has not been agile enough in adapting to rapid global changes, such as shifts in consumer preferences and rising raw material prices. “I take this situation very seriously,” he stated, promising a restructuring of Nissan’s operations to enhance efficiency and resilience.
Looking at the fiscal first half of the year, Nissan reported total sales revenue of 5.98 trillion yen ($39 billion), showing a slight decline of 1% compared to over 6 trillion yen the previous year. The profit for the April to September period was 19.2 billion yen ($124 million), a significant reduction from the 296.2 billion yen earned in the same six-month span last year.
In light of these challenges, Nissan has revised its revenue forecast for the fiscal year ending in March 2025, lowering it from 14 trillion yen ($91 billion) to 12.7 trillion yen ($82 billion). Additionally, the company has adjusted its vehicle sales expectation down to 3.4 million for the fiscal year, down from an earlier estimate of 3.65 million, which aligns closely with last year’s sales figures.
No dividends will be distributed to shareholders this fiscal year due to the company’s underwhelming performance. Nissan has committed to providing a net profit forecast at the earliest opportunity, especially after previously estimating an annual profit of 300 billion yen ($1.9 billion).
As part of its recovery strategy, Nissan will appoint a Chief Performance Officer who will focus on turnaround initiatives, beginning next month. Uchida mentioned that every aspect of the company’s operations and strategies will be thoroughly evaluated as part of the restructuring process.
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Yuri Kageyama is on X: https://x.com/yurikageyama
