Nissan is slashing 9,000 jobs after a dire financial performance

Nissan is cutting 9,000 jobs globally to reduce costs.

Nissan is cutting 9,000 jobs globally in an effort to cut costs, the Japanese automobile giant said in an earnings statement on Thursday.

Nissan said that sales volumes decreased year-on-year to 1.6 million cars, hurt by higher selling and production costs, particularly from the US. That translated to much lower revenue: Profit for the quarter that ended in September was 32 million yen, or $208 million, falling far short of the $1.4 billion Nissan reported during the same period last year.

Along with the layoffs, Nissan is cutting production capacity by 20%. CEO Makoto Uchida is also forfeiting 50% of his monthly compensation starting this month, among other executives who are taking a voluntary pay cut.

The company also installed Guillaume Cartier, currently the chair of Nissan’s Africa, Middle East, India, Europe, and Oceania unit, in a new role: chief performance officer, in which he will oversee sales and profit.

Over the summer, Nissan started a voluntary severance program. At the time, a spokesman told Automotive News that Nissan was not planning on layoffs.

Nissan had 133,580 employees as of March 31. It was not immediately clear how the job cuts would be distributed among the company’s global workforce.

The company did not respond to a request for comment.

Nissan’s stock is down 32% this year.

The company faces declining sales in China due to competition from local players and it has been slow to produce electric or hybrid vehicles, which have been in demand compared to gas-only models.

Sales in the US have also taken a hit despite spending on advertisements and promotions. In the first half of the year, average Nissan dealerships earned 70% less than they did during the same timeframe last year — the lowest level in nearly 15 years, per Automotive News. Sales of Nissan’s EVs have also suffered because they do not qualify for the $7,500 US government tax credits for cars built in North America.

Between 2001 and 2017, Nissan was led by auto titan Carlos Ghosn, who was arrested in Japan on suspicion of financial misconduct during his time as CEO of the company. In 2019, while under house arrest, he escaped from Japan to Lebanon by hiding in a large box that was shipped as cargo on a private jet.