Latest news with #Leaf
Miami Herald
a day ago
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
Nissan sales slid in Q2, but affordable models held steady
Nissan on Tuesday reported its second-quarter 2025 U.S. sales, and there wasn't much good news. The automaker reported sales of 221,441 units across the Nissan and Infiniti brands-a decrease of 6.5% from the same period in 2024. The Nissan brand's sales were down 6.1% from Q2 2024, at 209,114 units, while Infiniti's were down 12.7% from that period, with just 12,327 units shifted. Through the end of June, Nissan and Infiniti together sold 488,526 units in the U.S., a decrease of 0.2% from the same period in 2024. The Nissan brand actually saw a 0.3% sales increase, 463,034 vehicles sold, but Infiniti sales dropped by 9.0%, to 25,492 units. Nissan's neglect of its luxury brand makes those results unsurprising, but there was something interesting to note in the main Nissan brand's sales. A trio of Nissan's least-expensive models saw big year-over-year sales increases in Q2. Sales of the Versa sedan were up 71.9% compared to the second quarter of 2024, the Kicks crossover saw a 52.8% year-over-year sales increase, and sales of the Leaf electric hatchback leaped 28% from Q2 2024. A sales boost for the Kicks was likely as redesigned versions of that crossover didn't start reaching showrooms until later in 2024 (newness may also be behind a 99.5% jump in Murano sales) but that doesn't apply to the aged Leaf and Versa. Perhaps continued price increases for new cars, which is now beginning to affect the supply of cheap used cars, is causing more shoppers to visit Nissan showrooms. The Versa remains one of the cheapest new cars available in the U.S., with an effective base price of $20,130 after destination. While it was still listed on the automaker's consumer site at the time of publication, Nissan is expected to end production of the even-cheaper five-speed manual Versa, although most customers likely weren't choosing that option. Similarly, the Leaf's $29,280 base price for the 2025 model year makes it one of the cheapest EVs around-even though it doesn't qualify for the $7,500 federal EV tax credit. While there are some indications that the situation is improving-the Pathfinder crossover also recorded its best-ever sales quarter-Nissan remains in an unstable position. Outside the U.S., the automaker on Tuesday said it was seeking 250 voluntary job cuts in the U.K., home to one of its biggest assembly plants. Reuters on Monday reported that Nissan was seeking to delay payments to suppliers in the U.K. and Europe. Layoffs and cost cutting are the orders of the day under CEO Ivan Espinosa, whose stated goal is to achieve $3.4 billion in cost cuts over the next two years, included the reported $700 million sale of the automaker's headquarters in Yokohama, Japan. It's part of a rough road to recovery for Nissan, which lost $4.5 billion last fiscal year, and is looking to remain independent after merger talks with Honda quickly dissolved. Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Vancouver Sun
a day ago
- Sport
- Vancouver Sun
Michael Pezzetta coming home to Maple Leafs on two-year deal
Michael Pezzetta, a Toronto-born left winger playing for the Montreal Canadiens, won't feel so disoriented now. In the Maple Leafs' first and perhaps only move when NHL free agency opened Tuesday, the 6-foot-1, 219-pound checking winger agreed to a two-year deal with a $785,500 AAV. With a dwindling salary cap after re-signing Matthew Knies and adding Nicolas Roy in the Mitch Marner trade, general manager Brad Treliving had about $5 million to play with, according to the salary cap web site Puckpedia. A sixth-round pick in 2016, he was Montreal's leader in hits for his two previous seasons prior to playing just 25 games last year when he still compiled 73. Points-wise, while getting as many as 52 in one OHL campaign, his most in the NHL were 15 in 63 games in '22-23. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. He did have a memorable shootout goal against the Buffalo Sabres that season, riding his stick in celebration in homage to former Leaf Tiger Williams. Pezzetta's arrival likely means the departure of Ryan Reaves, who ice time dwindled to the stage of being demoted to the Toronto Marlies. The 38-year-old Reaves has one year remaining at $1.35 million. Lhornby@ X: @sunhornby
New York Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
It shouldn't have been this way for Mitch Marner and the Maple Leafs
Ten years ago, in a time of major change and uncertainty, the Maple Leafs made a decision that would alter the course of the franchise. It was draft weekend in Florida and the Leafs owned the fourth pick following a disastrous 68-point season. Mike Babcock, the new Leafs coach with the sway of an unprecedented eight-year contract, thought his team should consider using their top pick on a defenceman, like Noah Hanifin or Ivan Provorov. Advertisement Mark Hunter, who shared the interim GM's role at that point with Kyle Dubas, thought otherwise. Tasked with overseeing the draft, Hunter opted for the forward he knew best from his years running the OHL's London Knights: Mitch Marner. 'Him being such a local boy, he will be able to handle the rigours of playing in Toronto,' Hunter said not long after the draft concluded in June 2015. 'Mitch Marner's gonna be a good player for the Toronto Maple Leafs.' Marner wasn't just a good player for the Maple Leafs. He was a great player, one of the greatest in more than 100 years of franchise history. Only Auston Matthews and Doug Gilmour have posted more points per game among Leafs who played in at least 300 games. Three of the top six (and four of the top eight) single-season assist records belong to Marner, including the 75-assist campaign he posted last season. Unlike his long-time co-star Matthews, the top pick in 2016 who was born in California and raised in Arizona, Marner was homegrown, a product of the Greater Toronto Area. He grew up cheering for the Leafs and even wore the No. 93 for Gilmour, his dad's favourite player, when he played for the Knights. (Gilmour played his last game as a Leaf when Marner was only five years old). The marriage of Marner and the Leafs should have been a hockey fairytale. Marner should have gone down as one of the most popular players in franchise history, more adored than Gilmour, Wendel Clark or Johnny Bower. He should have spent his entire career as a Leaf, become the franchise's all-time leading scorer, had a statue built on Legends Row and a banner raised to the rafters of Scotiabank Arena. Of course, it was not to be. The relationship between Marner and the Leafs — between Marner and his hometown — grew so sour that Marner will now spend the next phase of his career playing for the Vegas Golden Knights. His exit, while predictable, is also a sad end to what should have been a happy story. Advertisement It didn't have to be this way. In the beginning, it was great. Marner burst onto the scene in 2016, alongside Matthews and the slick William Nylander, and right away made it clear that he was special with a skill set the franchise, never mind the NHL, hadn't quite seen before — Patrick Kane-like but with awesome defensive ability. The Leafs were young and they were fun in those days. The vibes were immaculate. A close six-game series loss to the Presidents' Trophy-winning Washington Capitals in the spring of 2017 hinted at the upside of the group. Marner was electric a year later in the first round of the 2018 playoffs. The Leafs lost that series to Boston in seven games, but the veteran Bruins came away dazzled by Marner in particular and told him so afterward in the handshake line. 'That's one guy I pretty much singled out just to make sure to let him know he had a good series,' said defenceman Kevan Miller. Then-Bruins coach (and Marner's soon-to-be coach with the Golden Knights) Bruce Cassidy told Marner he had a 'hell of a series.' By his third season, Marner was a flat-out star. Playing alongside Zach Hyman and the newly signed John Tavares, he became the first Leaf in more than 20 years to register 94 points in a season. He was beloved among his teammates for his upbeat, energetic personality. James van Riemsdyk described him once as a 'bubbly person' who was 'almost like your little brother drinking sodas, eating candies.' 'He wants to make jokes about everybody, have everybody make jokes about him, and be very involved,' said long-time teammate Morgan Rielly. Discontent was always simmering just beneath the surface, though. There was Babcock's mistreatment of Marner — the coach famously requesting that the star rank his teammates' work ethic before revealing the results to the teammates in question in a fashion that embarrassed a young Marner. Babcock also briefly placed Marner on the fourth line as a rookie. That apparent infraction still bugged those around Marner years later. The Leafs wouldn't — and didn't — do that that kind of thing to Matthews, they argued. Advertisement How Marner was treated, looked upon and critiqued in comparison to Matthews and Nylander was a near-constant topic of conversation. In the fall of 2018, Marner's father, Paul, offered a window into that line of thinking when he spoke to The Athletic about his son's remarkable rise. 'It drives our family nuts when we hear you guys all talk about who should be the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Mitch never hardly gets any consideration,' Paul Marner said. 'It's because he's like this happy-go-lucky little kid. But he championed the London Knights to the Memorial Cup with that same happy (personality).' The captaincy eventually went to Tavares and later to Matthews. Even though his son had hit the jackpot, landing with his hometown team in the midst of a new and exciting era, Paul Marner seemed focused on what might have been, pondering a universe where 2015 No. 1 pick Connor McDavid wasn't in the same cohort as his son. 'In any other draft, if Connor's not there, you would've been talking about Mitch as first overall pick.' Paul Marner was an involved hockey dad from the beginning. He filmed every one of his son's games while he barked out both encouragement and expletive-laced instruction from behind the glass. 'You better get f—ing skating Mitch, I swear to God,' Paul said to his son during a CBC feature on hockey parents in 2009. In that same feature, he added, 'A lot of people have this vision that their kid is gonna go somewhere and they get really involved in it. It's like we're living our life through our kids.' The Leafs quietly hoped that, in time, the influence of his dad and those around him would wane as Marner grew older and matured. After Marner's second season, the Brendan Shanahan-led Leafs made a change in the front office, swapping the king of NHL GM experience in Lou Lamoriello for someone with no experience at all in Dubas. Advertisement That inexperience showed when it came to Marner's second NHL contract, which could have been extended soon after Dubas took over in the summer of 2018. Instead, the Leafs — abiding by a Lamoriello principle, oddly enough — took the time they had. Victorious in the Tavares sweepstakes with a seven-year, $77 million deal on July 1, the Leafs shifted their priority to Nylander, who still needed a new contract after Lamoriello failed to get one done in his last year as GM. Marner had posted 69 points as a sophomore for the Leafs and might have agreed to an eight-year, $64 million extension that summer. The math quickly changed as he leapt into stardom. On the same February day in 2019 that Matthews signed a five-year, $58 million contract extension with the Leafs, Marner's agent, Darren Ferris, told The Toronto Star that the team had lowballed his client in extension talks. Marner picked up his playoff heroics in the spring of 2019. He scored twice in a Game 1 win over the Bruins and stepped in front of two shots to preserve a Game 3 victory. That series though, which featured another Nazem Kadri misdeed that resulted in suspension, got away from the Leafs in seven games. Marner's contract — and the noise around it — became the lingering story of the 2019 offseason. Ferris was a feisty, combative negotiator. Talks grew increasingly contentious. The Leafs were eventually prepared to pay Marner about as much as Matthews and Tavares, with a seven- or eight-year contract that included a cap hit of $11 million. Those deals, which would have made Marner one of the highest-paid players in the league, were turned down. Vitriol for Marner, his dad and Ferris bubbled on social media at a time when Marner, only 22, struggled to escape it. The two sides compromised on a six-year contract with a cap hit of $10.9 million after Marner missed the first day of training camp, which was held in Newfoundland that season. Advertisement 'I think Mitch would want more and we would want (the deal to be) less,' said Dubas, speaking next to Marner, at the Double IcePlex in Paradise, Nfld. 'But it's something that we both agree on and move ahead with.' It was an imperfect solution, a relative failure for both sides, and perhaps the turning point of the Marner era. Still new in his role as GM at that point, Dubas conceded that he made mistakes as he learned on the job, including the Marner negotiations. 'I wish everything was done with all of them in one day,' he said. In other words, he regretted not pursuing extensions for Marner, Matthews and Nylander sooner, and landing more team-friendly deals in the process. He would describe it later as the biggest mistake of his Leafs tenure. It was a mistake that took on greater significance when the salary cap remained flat. History might have played out much differently had the team and its GM somehow latched Marner onto something like an eight-year deal with an $8 million cap hit. The Leafs might have kept Hyman after all in the summer of 2021. And maybe, with roughly $3 million extra to spare, they could have deepened their forward group and/or upgraded the back end in a more substantial way. Marner would have been a hero in that world; the star who was underpaid, the star who took less — something Shanahan once insisted would be expected of players in Toronto. Pressure might have been lifted. Maybe the playoff failures would have been a different story. In that alternate reality, Marner would still have time remaining on his contract today. That's what Marner and the people around him missed in trying to chase Matthews and Tavares money. Instead, fairly or not, he came to represent something different, something less appealing, something greedier — even if he was just doing what his co-stars had done before him. Advertisement 'I'm from Toronto,' Marner said after the deal was done. 'I live here and I play here as well, so I mean, there's pressure in that always. You don't think about it. You just go out there and play hockey like you've done your whole life.' The Leafs lost to an inferior Columbus Blue Jackets team the following postseason, after which Dubas blasted any and all critics after Marner struggled to produce offence. 'I don't know where all this started with the criticizing of Mitch Marner,' he said. 'But to me, it's among the most idiotic things that I see done here.' The following spring, when the path to the Stanley Cup Final appeared as frictionless as ever in the pandemic-shortened season, the Leafs built a 3-1 series lead against another team with lesser talent, Montreal, only to completely unravel in seven games. Nylander, who had quickly become underpaid with his $6.9 million cap hit, shined with five goals and eight points in the series. And while Matthews, playing alongside Marner, beat Carey Price only once, he also had scored an astounding 41 goals in 52 games during the regular season, which earned him the first Rocket Richard Trophy by a Leaf and a second-place finish for MVP. Tavares was hurt for all but three minutes of the series. It meant that the brunt of the criticism for the loss fell on Marner, who in the not-so-distant aftermath of the contract drama failed to score and produced only a single point in the final three losses. More than that, Marner appeared tight and tense as the pressure rose on the ice and behind the scenes. The joy usually present in his demeanour disappeared. In conversation with The Athletic that fall, Marner spoke about his efforts to rediscover that joy with counsel from Greg Harden, the famed Tom Brady whisperer who had joined the team as a 'Peak Performance Coach.' Harden believed in controlling the 'controllables,' which, for Marner, was 'trying to be the best player I can be, bring the energy, have a lot of joy.' Advertisement 'Just stay in that moment, stay in that joy, and embrace it,' he said. The result: The finest season (still) of Marner's NHL career, a 35-goal, 97-point (in only 72 games) two-way masterpiece that helped the Leafs to a franchise-record 115 points. His performance, which failed to draw even one vote for MVP, fell in the shadow of his teammate. Matthews set a franchise record with 60 goals and became the first Leaf since 1955 to win the Hart as MVP. The Leafs outplayed the reigning Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round that spring, but still lost in seven games. 'We're getting sick and tired of feeling like this,' Marner said after the sixth consecutive first-round defeat. A poor start to the following season for both Marner and the Leafs put Sheldon Keefe, who replaced Babcock as coach not long after Marner signed his second contract, on the hot seat. The Leafs had dropped three games in a row when Keefe briefly benched Marner following a turnover during an overtime loss in Anaheim. Marner, likely never benched in his life previously, thundered down the tunnel to the dressing room and smashed his stick in frustration. 'We started off a lot worse last year and everyone tried to put shambles in our brains,' he said in a tense post-game media scrum. 'It's not gonna happen with us.' Asked who he meant by everyone, Marner responded, 'Outside noise. It's big in Toronto especially.' Marner could be personable, even charming, in one-on-one media interviews, especially as he got older. But in the big scrums where so much of that work gets done in Toronto, he often came across as stilted and uncomfortable. What he often meant to say came out wrong, which led to his words taking on a life of their own. Those storms would lead to the occasional media blackout, with any and all Marner requests denied for days at a time. Advertisement Things turned around, for both player and team, that season. The Leafs piled up 111 points. Marner recorded 99 points and a league-best 104 takeaways. He became the first Leaf since Gilmour in 1994 to be nominated for the Selke Trophy as the NHL's top defensive forward. This time, another first-round series with Tampa went the Leafs' way. The joy of the first playoff round won since 2004 was quickly replaced by dismay when the team was erased by the Florida Panthers in five games as the stars — Marner included — were shut down. Dubas hinted at finally changing the core as a result in an emotional season-ending news conference. Full no-trade protection wouldn't kick in on Matthews, Marner and Nylander's contracts until July 1. At locker cleanout day, Marner gushed about being a Leaf and left no doubt that he wished to stay. 'You feel very lucky to be able to wear this jersey,' Marner said. 'I'm definitely very lucky and don't take it for granted ever and appreciate it all.' But Marner, with two years remaining on his contract, was the most logical star to trade and might have fetched a significant return. There would be no trade. Dubas was fired, suddenly, by Shanahan in the midst of contract negotiations and the front office, newly run by Brad Treliving, quickly made it clear to a befuddled Toronto market that the Leafs would be running it back. It was a decision that surrendered any and all control over Marner's future to Marner. It would backfire. Marner returned looking unhappy and disconnected in the fall of 2023. He still tossed pucks to excited fans holding signs at every pre-game warmup. His apparent joy for the game, though, seemed to be missing. Before the Leafs played in Chicago in late November, Keefe noted that Marner wasn't 'executing at the level that you'd expect from Mitch,' and hadn't 'found his groove here yet.' Advertisement Following the game, the Leafs coach quickly walked back his comments — 'let's not pile on the negatives here' — just as he had a year earlier when, after critiquing the performance of the team's 'elite' players following a loss to Arizona, Marner appeared noticeably stung. Criticism seemed to irk Marner in a way it didn't with the team's other stars. Again the playoffs came and again he and the Leafs disappointed, once more in seven-game fashion to the Bruins. Afterward, Marner tried to describe how appreciated members of the Leafs felt in Toronto, that they were 'looked upon as kind of gods here, to be honest.' It was another remark, however well-intended, that blew up amid intensifying criticism following another playoff failure. It felt, again, like an inevitability that the Leafs would move on from Marner, or at least seriously explore the possibility. Marner had struggled to make a superstar impact in the playoffs (albeit in a demanding defensive role) and no longer appeared happy playing for his hometown team. It became clear that the team had decided to move forward with their star winger yet again when Marner was spotted having coffee with Craig Berube soon after he was hired as head coach. Whether they seriously wrestled with the possibility of moving on is a matter of perspective. The Leafs talked to rival teams that might have interest in acquiring Marner and might be of interest to Marner himself, who had full say on any trade. They concluded that those teams were either cap-strapped and/or unwilling to deal what the Leafs considered to be fair value in return, opting against confrontation that might have forced a trade. On the first day of what would be his final training camp as a Leaf, Marner said he wouldn't discuss his expiring contract or negotiations on a new one. It turned out he wouldn't discuss it much privately either, spurning the team's attempt to talk extension. Advertisement Fearful that he would leave for nothing but cap space following the season, the front office, after years of general resistance to the idea, tried to trade Marner at the trade deadline for Mikko Rantanen. With a pregnant wife at home and full control over the matter, Marner turned down a move. 'We want Mitch here for a long time,' Treliving said in Utah a day after the stunning news leaked. When asked later about the team's willingness to make such a request, Marner was succinct, telling The Athletic, 'It's a business out there. I know what's going on. I'm just here to play hockey.' Marner reached 100 points for the first time, joining Gilmour, Matthews and Darryl Sittler as the only Leafs to do so. But it felt a little hollow, with all signs pointing to an imminent exit. In the playoffs, the Leafs wormed their way around the Ottawa Senators in the first round and built up a 2-0 series lead against the Panthers only to fritter it away in devastating fashion. Marner again failed to produce when the Leafs needed him most. He didn't record a point in the final three losses, including in a Game 7 blowout. It turned out to be his last game as a Leaf. This was no fairytale. Instead, the story ended with everybody involved unhappy, unfulfilled and likely full of regret. The Leafs saw the signs of discontent and chose to ignore them rather than moving on from Marner when they had the chance. They believed, wrongly in the end, that Marner's talent was too awesome to dispel, and that eventually he and the others would reward their unyielding faith. Marner may yet find happiness and fulfillment in Vegas, but he could have been a legend with the Leafs. Instead, despite regular-season success, the Marner era in Toronto will be remembered for playoff failures. In the near-term, he'll likely be seen as a villain. In the aftermath of this most recent playoff defeat, Marner struck a different tone than he had in the past. He spoke in the past tense. He loved his time here. He loved being here. He just didn't want to stay.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Nissan to axe hundreds of UK jobs
Nissan plans to cut hundreds of jobs at its Sunderland factory as the carmaker scrambles to boost profits amid slow demand for electric vehicles (EV). On Monday, the Japanese manufacturer announced plans to cut around 250 jobs – roughly 4pc of its 6,000-strong workforce at the plant in the North of England – through a voluntary redundancy scheme. Office staff and shop floor supervisors at the Sunderland facility will be affected by the cull, while manufacturing workers will be unaffected, the group said. Nissan's Sunderland facility was first opened in 1986 to supply cars including the iconic Nissan Bluebird to markets in the UK and Europe. The factory is currently the largest car factory in Britain and Nissan's only factory in Europe. The car factory in Sunderland is also the city's largest employer. The cuts come as Nissan seeks to cut ¥400bn (£2bn) of costs after its profits slumped amid slower-than-expected uptake of EVs in Europe. Nissan has invested heavily in its push to become a leading manufacturer of EVs in a bid to ditch petrol and diesel car production by 2030. The plans saw it commit £2bn worth of investments for upgrades to its Sunderland facility in 2023 to prepare for the switch to EVs. The lay-offs come as slow uptake of EVs hits Nissan's profitability. Slumping sales in China and pricing pressures in the US have also hurt Nissan's income, while soaring energy prices and labour costs have further eroded profits. The slowdown saw Nissan report an 88pc drop in its profits for the full year 2025, in what marked its worst set of financial results in 25 years. In response, the company outlined a far-reaching turnaround plan that is expected to see it lay off 20,000 of its 133,500 global employees. A Nissan spokesman said: 'This week we are beginning discussions with some of our team in Sunderland about the opportunity to voluntarily leave Nissan, with support from the company.' 'This will support the plant's efficiency as we aim to become a leaner, more resilient business,' the spokesman said. Nissan is now expected to start producing its fully electric Leaf model out of its Sunderland facility this year, with a view to launching an electric version of its Juke car in 2026. The spokesman said: 'Our Sunderland plant remains at the forefront of our electrification strategy.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yomiuri Shimbun
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Nissan Plans Large Production Cuts at Key Domestic Plant; Output to be Trimmed to 20% of Capacity in July, August
Nissan Motor Co. plans to make large-scale production cuts at its key Oppama plant in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in July and August, according to sources. The move was prompted by sluggish sales of the Nissan Note, a compact car produced at the factory, the sources said. Nissan reportedly plans to reduce production at the plant by nearly 50%, and the production capacity utilization ratio could fall to around 20%. The Oppama plant is one of seven domestic and overseas factories that Nissan is considering closing. The difficulties facing the plant are becoming pronounced. During the cutback period, employees at the plant will be engaged in tasks such as maintenance of production lines. Nissan does not plan any layoffs. The Oppama plant began operations in 1961 as Nissan's 'mother plant' for establishing production technologies. With an annual production capacity of 240,000 units, the plant began producing the Leaf, the world's first mass-produced electric vehicle, in 2010, and produced five models through 2019. However, the plant has been downsized partly due to aging facilities. The production of Leaf vehicles was relocated to the Nissan Tochigi plant in Tochigi Prefecture, and only the Note and its derivatives are currently produced at the Oppama plant. In 2024, the Oppama plant produced approximately 100,000 units and its capacity utilization rate stood at only 40%, far below the break-even point of 70% to 80%. Sales of the Note were approximately 8,000 units per month from fiscal 2021 to fiscal 2024. Only 4,470 units sold in April 2025, down 25% from the same month last year. Since there has not been a full model change in the Note since the end of 2020, it has been losing ground to vehicles by other carmakers and stocks of unsold Note cars have accumulated, making it inevitable for the automaker to sharply cut back production. Nissan reported a consolidated net loss of ¥670.8 billion for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025. In May, the automaker announced a plan to close seven of its 17 finished-car plants in Japan and overseas by fiscal 2027 in an effort to restructure its business. In Japan, Nissan is making arrangements to close its Oppama plant and the Shonan plant in Hiratsuka, also in the prefecture, of its subsidiary Nissan Shatai Co. Overseas, the automaker is considering terminating vehicle production in South Africa, India and Argentina and closing two plants in Mexico. Nissan's global production capacity stands at 5 million units a year. However, the automaker produced 3.1 million units in fiscal 2024, and the capacity utilization rate has been sluggish at 60%. Under these circumstances, Nissan plans to consolidate its finished vehicle plants in Japan and overseas by fiscal 2027 to reduce its annual global production capacity, excluding China, to 2.5 million units. It also seeks to increase the capacity utilization rate of the remaining 10 plants to nearly 100%.
