Nissan Motor Co. reached the milestone last month in announcing it will sell its factory in South Africa to Chery, one of China’s most successful international brands.
It completes a key stage in Nissan’s cost-saving quest to shutter factories worldwide and slash fixed costs. The company has cut ¥160 billion (USD1 billion) of the ¥250 billion (USD1.6 billion) in fixed costs targeted under the “Nissan revival plan that its CEO Ivan Espinosa unveiled last May”.
This aggressive strategy, led by CEO Ivan Espinosa, aims to reduce the company’s global production sites from 17 down to 10 to slash fixed costs and address significant financial losses.
Status of all 7 factories/plants closure
Nissan has completed its exit from the following targeted locations through sales, closures, or stake buyouts:
- South Africa (Rosslyn): The final exit was confirmed in February 2026 with the sale of the Rosslyn assembly plant to the Chinese brand Chery Automobile.
- India: Nissan exited its joint venture by selling its 51% stake in Renault Nissan Automotive India Private Ltd (RNAIPL) to its partner Renault in 2025.
- Argentina: Operations were ceased, with production of pickup trucks shifted to existing facilities in Brazil or Mexico.
- Mexico (CIVAC Plant): Nissan shuttered its historic CIVAC plant in Morelos—its first factory outside Japan—consolidating production into its Aguascalientes complex.
- Japan (Oppama & Shatai Shonan): Production ended at the Oppama assembly plant and the Shatai Shonan plant in Kanagawa.
- Thailand: The company consolidated its two plants in Samut Prakan into a single production hub.
Broader Restructuring Impacts
- Job Cuts: Nissan is ahead of schedule in its plan to cut approximately 20,000 jobs globally, representing about 15% of its workforce.
- Production Capacity: The goal is to shrink worldwide capacity to roughly 2.5 million vehicles, down from a previous 5 million, to boost plant utilization rates.
- Safe Locations: The Sunderland plant in the UK and key U.S. plants in Smyrna and Canton were excluded from closures, primarily due to their roles in EV production and avoiding U.S. tariffs
