There’s still no end in sight for Nissan’s struggles. The scale of its problems became clear in August 2024, when the company’s Q1 report recorded a 99% drop in profit, and the following quarter showed no signs of improvement. At that point, Nissan implemented a restructuring plan to create a “leaner, more resilient” business: a 20% cut to global capacity, 9,000 layoffs, a JP¥300bn (US$2bn) reduction in fixed costs, and partial forfeiture of executive salaries. Despite these measures, Fitch, Moody’s, and S&P Global had downgraded the company’s rating to ‘junk’ status by February 2025.

On 13 May, with new Chief Executive Ivan Espinosa now at the helm, Nissan announced ‘Re:Nissan’, a new recovery plan with the same core objectives as the previous one launched under Makoto Uchida. However, the intensity of restructuring has been dialled up: reducing fixed and variable costs by JP¥500bn, consolidating production plants from 17 to ten, and cutting its total workforce by 11,000 (in addition to the previous 9,000).

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