Nissan Motor Co plans to layoff or relocate around 1,000 employees in Thailand by fall 2025, media reports said citing industrial sources. The Japanese automaker is currently dealing with declining profits and is considering restructuring to manage costs.
Citing sources, Japan Today reported that development remains in line with a pledge that the automaker made to slash its global workforce by nearly 7 per cent or 9,000 employees by fiscal 2026 ending in March 2027. The third-largest car maker in Japan has been witnessing a fall in sales.
While the Thailand car market has been dominated by Japanese carmakers, they have been witnessing a plunge in sales as electric vehicles made by Chinese manufacturers gained more ground in the country.
Nissan’s sales in Thailand plunged 29.7 per cent to 14,224 vehicles in the 2022-23 fiscal year in comparison to a year-ago period. In Thailand, Nissan’s factories produced four models for the domestic car market and for exports, such as its Kicks compact sports utility vehicle.
Earlier on Thursday, the automaker said around 1,000 of its employees in the United States will retire early by the end of the year.
Notably, earlier in the month, Nissan Motor announced that it would cut down jobs for 9,000 individuals and also downgraded its annual forecast for the second time in the year. The firm said that it also intends to cut down its global production capacity by 20 per cent.
CEO Makoto Uchida issued a statement and said, “These turnaround measures do not imply that the company is shrinking. Nissan will restructure its business to become leaner and more resilient while also reorganising management to respond quickly and flexibly to changes in the business environment.”
The firm clocked an operating profit of 32.9 billion yen in the July-September quarter, plunging 85 per cent from 208.1 billion yen in the corresponding quarter a year earlier.