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Nissan to cut 12,500 jobs worldwide

25 July 2019 15:02 (UTC +04:00)

Japanese car giant Nissan has announced 12,500 job cuts as it attempts to shore up its finances after recent troubles, APA reports citing BBC News.

It will reduce its production capacity and the number of models it produces by 10% by the end of 2022, but it did not say where the cuts will fall.

The firm also announced a 94.5% fall in net income for the first quarter of 2019.

This is one of the one of the carmaker's worst quarterly performances in a decade.

Union sources are hopeful that Nissan's Sunderland car plant will escape the effects of the cuts.

Of the 12,500 job cuts, 6,400 have already been implemented at eight locations.

The firm plans to shed another 6,100 jobs between the 2020 and 2022 financial years at six locations.

Nissan continues to struggle in the US, a key market, where it has been heavily discounting to keep up with sales by rivals.

It reported first-quarter sales falls in Europe, Asia and Oceania, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

The carmaker is reining in its operations after years of expansion under former chairman Carlos Ghosn, who was ousted last year after being accused of financial crimes.

In a news conference, Nissan boss Hiroto Saikawa said the job cuts would account for a "big portion" of the savings it was trying to make.

He did not specify which models would be targeted for production cuts, but said they would be likely to affect "compact cars and its Datsun range".

The cuts will fall on unprofitable products, Mr Saikawa added.

Nissan's Sunderland plant makes profitable lines and also makes the Leaf electric car. Part of the firm's broader strategy is a focus on electric vehicles.

However, jobs at the factory are endangered by Brexit uncertainty that is causing foreign-owned firms to question their investments in the UK.

Earlier this year, Nissan said it planned to end the production of two of its Infiniti cars at Sunderland. It also announced it would build its new X-Trail model in Japan, instead of Sunderland.