Nissan is reportedly looking at closing its South African factory located in Rosslyn, Gauteng, by or before 2027.
Citing insider sources, Japanese publication Yomiuri reported that Nissan has plans to shutter as many as seven plants worldwide.
Two of the facilities potentially on the chopping block are located in its home market of Japan. The others can be found in Argentina, India, Mexico, and South Africa.
The drastic move comes amid ongoing restructuring efforts aimed at bringing the struggling automaker back to life.
Nissan has been on the decline for a number of years owing to an ageing line-up of vehicles that have no real edge over their competitors.
Its recent attempted merger with Honda, which ended with the ousting of a CEO, further damaged the carmaker’s prospects.
Nissan reported a net loss of 670.8 billion yen (R85 billion) in its latest annual financial report, its third-largest loss on record.
The company subsequently said it would be laying off as many as 20,000 employees and rationalising its production network from 17 to 10 plants as it seeks to regain profitability, as per Yomiuri.
Nissan South Africa responds
Speaking to sister publication BusinessTech, Nissan South Africa neither confirmed nor denied that its local Navara factory could be closing down.
“Regarding the recent reports on the potential closure of certain plants, Nissan wants to clarify that this news is speculative and not based on any official information of the company,” the company said.
It did confirm that HQ has decided to consolidate the production of the Nissan Frontier and Navara pickups, which is currently split between Mexico and Argentina.
These bakkies will now be built at one facility in Morelos, Mexico, suggesting that the Argentinian plant is bidding farewell.
The company also said that the Renault Group will soon own 100% of Renault-Nissan Automotive India Private by acquiring the 51% shareholding currently held by Nissan.
As such, it is likely that Renault will be taking over Nissan’s Indian factory.
“At this time, we will not be providing further comments on this matter,” said Renault South Africa.
“Our focus remains on our operations and the dedicated workforce that drives our success. We are committed to maintaining transparency with our stakeholders and will communicate any relevant updates as necessary.”
While it’s possible that the local Navara factory may be closing down, we reckon it has a better chance of survival than the others.
Africa has emerged as one of the key markets targeted by Nissan in its pursuit to get its balance books back into the green.
Last year, the company added several new Navara models to the local assembly line after the discontinuation of the NP200 and expanded its export market coverage to nations such as Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Sudan, and Tunisia.
As a result, the factory now services a whopping 45 markets for which it would be difficult to find a cost-effective replacement should it be closed.
Nissan also said that it aimed to ramp up production at the assembly hub to the maximum output of 50,000 units per annum before the end of 2024.
Additionally, it recently launched the special-edition Navara Warrior in Mzansi which is developed through a joint venture between the domestic subsidiary of Nissan and Australian firm Premcar.
Given these developments, Nissan seems to have a long-term vision for its South African factory which doesn’t include any immediate closures.
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