Nissan Turning Down the Flow From North American Assembly Plants

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

A larger-than-average new vehicle inventory, compounded by a change in strategy and dismal April sales figures, means fewer vehicles leaving Nissan assembly plants in the United States and Mexico in the foreseeable future.

The automaker plans to cut production by as much as 20 percent in the hopes of firming up its bottom line.

On May 1st, Nissan reported an 88-day supply of new vehicles, well above the industry average of 73 days, Kelley Blue Book reports. That’s double Subaru’s supply and still more than Fiat Chrysler or Ford.

According to Nikkei Asian Review, cuts are already underway at Nissan’s two U.S. assembly plants and three Mexican facilities. No job losses are expected. However, employees might find themselves with an extra day or two spent at home on any given week. By summer, production should decline by 10 to 20 percent, with the cutbacks drawing to a close in the fall.

Last month, the Nissan brand’s U.S. sales fell 29.1 percent, year over year, pushing the automaker’s 2018 volume to a 6.3 percent drop. Infiniti sales fell 17 percent, year over year, with the automaker’s luxury division posting an 8.3 percent year-to-date loss.

For May, Wards Auto predicts a daily selling rate 11.2 percent lower than the same month last year. That’s a larger anticipated sales loss than even Hyundai-Kia.

The month of April corresponds with the beginning of a fiscal year where Nissan plans to get moving on a new corporate strategy of lowered incentives, fewer fleet sales, and suppressed production. Obviously, this stands to bring fewer buyers into Nissan showrooms. While the automaker posted huge sales gains in the years following the recession, maintaining those higher volumes came at a cost — something CEO Hiroto Saikawa isn’t interested in continuing.

Nissan’s new North American chief, Denis Le Vot, has orders from HQ to boost brand value and profitability in the region. Long gone is the automaker’s former passion for growing market share above all other considerations. In the last quarter of 2017, operating profit fell 50 percent.

It’s expected that the throttling back of North American production will take a 3 percent bite out of the brand’s U.S. sales.

On the product side of things, Nisan buyers gain two new models this year: the subcompact, front-drive Kicks crossover (already available in Latin American markets), and the redesigned 2019 Altima sedan bound for the brand’s Canton, Mississippi and Smyrna, Tennessee assembly plants.

[Image: Nissan]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Turbo_awd Turbo_awd on May 29, 2018

    Is this for Nissans only, or Infiniti models as well? Still hoping to snag a great deal on an over-supplied Q50 :-)

    • TMA1 TMA1 on May 29, 2018

      Q50s are made in Japan, so they should keep stuffing that pipeline.

  • Art Vandelay Art Vandelay on May 29, 2018

    Must be that chicken tax keeping an import brand down again. Or not

  • CoastieLenn No idea why, but nothing about a 4Runner excites me post-2004. To me, they're peak "try-hard", even above the Wrangler and Gladiator.
  • AZFelix A well earned anniversary.Can they also attend to the Mach-E?
  • Jalop1991 The intermediate shaft and right front driveshaft may not be fully engaged due to suspected improper assembly by the supplier. Over time, partial engagement can cause damage to the intermediate shaft splines. Damaged shaft splines may result in unintended vehicle movement while in Park if the parking brake is not engagedGee, my Chrysler van automatically engages the parking brake when we put it in Park. Do you mean to tell me that the idjits at Kia, and the idjit buyers, couldn't figure out wanting this in THEIR MOST EXPENSIVE VEHICLE????
  • Dukeisduke I've been waiting to see if they were going to do something special for the 60th Anniversary. I was four years old when the Mustang was introduced. I can remember that one of our neighbors bought a '65 coupe (they were all titled as '65 models, even the '64-1/2 cars), and it's the first one I can remember seeing. In the '90s I knew an older gentleman that owned a '64-1/2 model coupe with the 260 V8.
  • SCE to AUX "...the complete Mustang model lineup to peruse"Will the fake Mustang show up, too?
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