Nissan has decided that one of the first plants to be shut down will be the one in Oppama.
Nissan is going through its toughest challenge yet. Under the leadership of CEO Ivan Espinosa, the “Re:Nissan” recovery plan is now underway and it will be a painful few years while the company shrinks and tries to find its footing. One of the many steps on its plan is to shave down the number of production sites it operates by 40%. The Japanese automotive company currently builds vehicles in 17 plants worldwide but needs to bring this number down to just 10. Many have been speculating which of these factories will get the axe but now we have the first victim – Oppama in Japan.
To most of us, the Oppama Plant might not mean much but the factory’s closing will affect roughly 2400 workers. By the time the other 7 factories are closed, Nissan estimates that its global workforce will be down by 20,000 and it aims to also reduce worldwide car production capacity by a million cars. On a positive note, fewer new cars made can only be good for the planet, so Nissan is probably the only car maker right now who’s making massive moves in the direction of a much smaller carbon footprint – though its mostly for financial reasons.
Anyway, the Oppama plant doesn’t currently make any cars that are sold in Malaysia as far as we can tell. It builds the Note and Note Aura – neither of which come here. However at one time, the Leaf, Cube and March were all made there and these are cars that were brought in here through one way or another. However, one model that will sound familiar to a lot of Malaysian motoring enthusiasts will be familiar with is the Bluebird, which was made there from the time it went unibody with the 410 chassis in 1963 until 2001.
I myself have no direct experience with any Bluebirds of any kind, but I do know of many older enthusiasts who have very fond memories of the car throughout its many generations. Even my granddad had one!
