Nissan has set out plans to slash costs after reporting its first annual loss in 11 years, sparking protests at one plant in Barcelona that is slated to shut.
Julian Satterthwaite reports.
Protests flare as Nissan shuts plants
Protests in Barcelona Thursday (May 28) over a decision made 6,500 miles away.
Nissan says it will close its plant in the Spanish city as part of cost-cutting measures.
The move sparked a furious reaction from workers.
But the Japanese automaker seems unlikely to change its mind.
Thursday saw it report its first annual loss in 11 years.
It’s facing a battle to survive amid the industry-wide slump in car sales.
At a news conference Thursday in Yokohama, chief executive Makoto Uchida sounded humble: "We need to do things which we haven't done enough of, such as to admit failures and take corrective actions to get back on track and to conduct a reorganization of surplus assets which we cannot not expect to recover.” Over the whole year Nissan recorded an operating loss of 40.5 billion yen - about 375 million dollars.
Now it plans a radical overhaul.
Besides the Spain factory, it will also shut a plant in Indonesia, and leave the South Korean market altogether.
The moves come just a day after Nissan said it would deepen ties with alliance partners Renault and Mitsubishi.
They will coordinate more closely in producing cars in a bid to slash costs.
Each firm will take the lead in different regions and market sectors.
Now Uchida says Nissan has enough cash to get through the current global crisis, but didn’t rule out raising more funds in the future.