Is Nissan About To Become Homeless?
Nissan may be looking to sell its global headquarters in Yokohama, Japan, in a desperate plea to raise some cash after posting a multi-billion-dollar loss last year and watching a proposed merger with Honda fall apart.
Key Points
- Nissan is considering selling its global headquarters in Yokohama as part of a broader asset reduction plan aimed at recovering from a $4.5 billion annual loss.
- The company is undergoing extensive restructuring, including closing seven factories, cutting 20,000 jobs, eliminating vehicle platforms, and reassigning thousands of R&D employees to cost-cutting initiatives.
- Nissan is exploring strategic partnerships and platform sharing, notably with Renault and Mitsubishi, and may utilize Dongfeng’s capacity in China to optimize production and reduce overhead.
According to a report from Nikkei Asia, the building, estimated to be worth approximately $700 million and is among the assets the company could offload by the end of its 2025 fiscal year. Nissan was $4.7 billion in the red for the fiscal year that ended in March.
While Nissan has not officially confirmed that the property is for sale, Japanese public broadcaster NHK also reports that the sale of the facility is under review— where there's smoke, there's fire.
Should a sale go ahead, Nissan might not go homeless as it would likely continue to occupy the building it built in 2009 under a leaseback agreement. McLaren made a similar play in 2021, selling its Woking headquarters to reduce debt while maintaining operations on-site.
Nissan has plans to close seven manufacturing facilities, including at least two in Japan, and cull its global workforce by 20,000 positions. Product development is also being scaled back, with several vehicle platforms expected to be eliminated, bringing the total number from 13 down to seven.
Other restructuring efforts include simplifying vehicle architectures to reduce parts complexity by 70 percent. Nissan is also pausing the development of certain future models and reassigning around 3,000 R&D staff to focus on cost-efficiency projects.
Earlier this month, Nissan announced Re:Nissan, a recovery plan that targets savings of more than $3 billion by creating a leaner, more resilient business as the automaker aims for a return to profitability by fiscal year 2026.
"In the face of challenging FY24 performance and rising variable costs, compounded by an uncertain environment, we must prioritize self-improvement with greater urgency and speed, aiming for profitability that relies less on volume." said Nissan president and CEO Ivan Espinosa.
"As new management, we are taking a prudent approach to reassess our targets and actively seek every possible opportunity to implement and ensure a robust recovery. Re:Nissan is an action-based recovery plan that clearly outlines what we need to do now."
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An experienced automotive storyteller and accomplished photographer known for engaging and insightful content. Michael also brings a wealth of technical knowledge—he was part of the Ford GT program at Multimatic, oversaw a fleet of Audi TCR race cars, ziptied Lamborghini Super Trofeo cars back together, been over the wall during the Rolex 24, and worked in the intense world of IndyCar.
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I was a huge Nissan supporter for years, that was until my 2014 Pathfinder. The warranty issues and related customer service I got means there hasn't been a new Nissan in my extended family since 2016. As the resident car guy, I bought or was involved in buying many of the vehicles for many family members. A sea of Rouges have become Civics, CRVs and Tacomas.
As much as I loved Nissan, and hate to see it failing, their business practices failed what are otherwise great vehicles.
They really should have gone through with that Honda merger.