Nissan is preparing to slash thousands of jobs across Europe under sweeping restructuring plans, in a fresh blow to the struggling Japanese carmaker as it battles weakening demand and the costly shift to electric vehicles.
The Financial Times reported that the company is expected to cut around 10 per cent of its European workforce and merge two production lines at its Sunderland plant, the UK’s largest car manufacturing site.
The Sunderland facility currently employs more than 6,000 staff, making it a cornerstone of the North East’s industrial base. Under the reported plans, Nissan is due to begin consultations with workers on Tuesday over proposals that could see around 900 office-based roles eliminated across Europe, including in the UK, France and Spain.
The cuts form part of a broader cost-reduction drive by the Japanese manufacturer, which has been under sustained pressure to restructure its global operations in response to slowing sales and fierce competition in the electric vehicle market.
Nissan has already announced a series of cost-cutting measures in recent years, including a global plan to shed around 20,000 jobs and close seven factories worldwide after reporting a net loss of 670.9 billion yen (£3.1 billion). Chief executive Ivan Espinosa described the changes as “not easy” when the measures were first unveiled.
Despite the retrenchment, the Sunderland plant remains central to Nissan’s UK operations and recently began production of the next-generation all-electric Leaf model last December. However, uncertainty continues to hang over the site, with reports suggesting the company is in discussions with Chinese automotive group Chery, among other potential partners, about future production arrangements.
Nissan has already cut hundreds of roles at Sunderland in recent years, including around 250 redundancies last year through a voluntary scheme, as it continues to streamline operations.
The latest round of proposed job cuts is likely to intensify concerns over the long-term future of European manufacturing capacity at the firm, particularly in the UK, where Sunderland has been held up as a flagship site for the automotive industry’s transition to electric vehicles.
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