By Steven Symes 
It’s dark times at Nissan as the automaker announces it will be cutting 9,000 jobs and how much of a stake it has in Mitsubishi. That’s not a positive sign for the Japanese company, which supplies quite a few rental vehicles here in the US, not to mention soccer mom crossovers.
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According to an AP report, Nissan’s lack of foresight into increasing demand for hybrid vehicles in the US market is being blamed for at least part of the financial pummeling the automaker took in the latest fiscal quarter. It lost 9.3 billion yen (about $60 million USD) versus a year ago when it posted a gain of 190.7 billion yen.
To right the ship, the 9,000 jobs which will be cut worldwide constitute about six percent of the company. Nissan also plans to trim down production globally by 20 percent. In other words, the company doesn’t believe demand sustains its current manufacturing volume.
As reported by Automotive News, Nissan is also looking to sell off a third of the shares it currently holds in Mitsubishi. The other automaker will be buying those back, so that could mean increased autonomy for the troubled brand in the future.
To get things turned around, Nissan is going to appoint a chief performance officer, who starts work in December. It will be interesting to see what changes he institutes.
This doesn’t mean Nissan is going away or is no longer relevant. Don’t worry, speeding Altimas with peeling clear coats will continue to dominant freeways where you live. But it does mean the company will need to rethink its market approach or face further cuts in the future.
With not only Nissan but Stellantis, Volkswagen, and other big automakers struggling lately, it’s obvious the car market isn’t doing great. Blame it on interest rates, the aftereffects of a crazy market during covid, inflation, or any number of other factors, the fact is it seems things are going to be rough for a while.
Image via Nissan
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