Nissan Motor Company is planning to let go of more than 10,000 employees across its global operations.
This is according to a report by Japan’s national broadcaster, NHK.
This fresh round of layoffs adds to earlier job cuts, raising the total to around 20,000 workers, which is about 15 percent of the company’s workforce.
The move comes as the Japanese carmaker faces major challenges in its key markets, especially China and the United States.
Sales in both countries have dropped, and the company is working to reorganize its operations to stay afloat.
Nissan has struggled to keep up with trends like the rising demand for hybrid cars in the U.S. and has also lost ground in the electric vehicle sector, where it once had an advantage.
The automaker, which is Japan’s third-largest, is preparing to release its financial results for the business year that ended in March.
Last month, it warned that it could post a net loss of up to 750 billion yen, or more than 5 billion dollars, due to impairment costs.
As of March last year, Nissan had over 133,000 workers.
In recent months, the company has made a series of tough decisions, including announcing in November 2024 that it would cut 9,000 jobs and lower its production capacity globally by 20 percent.
It also plans to shut down its plant in Thailand by June, with two other unidentified factories set to close.
Just last Friday, Nissan dropped plans to build a $1.1 billion battery factory on the island of Kyushu in Japan.
The project was expected to receive government support but was scrapped as part of the company’s efforts to cut back.
Ivan Espinosa, who took over as CEO in April, is leading the restructuring.
He has said before that more changes might be needed to turn the company around.
In China, where competition is fierce, Nissan hopes to recover by rolling out 10 new models in the coming years.
So far, the company has cut its profit forecast four times in the past financial year, reflecting the depth of the crisis it is facing.
While Nissan has not confirmed NHK’s report about the job cuts, the growing list of cost-saving actions shows how hard the company is working to respond to its financial troubles.
