Nissan to Stay Offline a While Longer

The shutdown of Nissan’s U.S. manufacturing plants on March 20th was initially expected to last until April 6th. A good-enough timeline, one supposes, as Nissan (like all other automakers) waited to see exactly how bad the surging coronavirus pandemic would get… and how local and state governments would move to combat it.

You know the rest. April 6th came and went, as did all other early production restart dates in the industry, with no returning workers. Minding its constrained funds, Nissan laid off 10,000 U.S. workers on April 7th. Now, there’s a new return date — not actually a specific one, but one the automaker might actually stick to.

It seems two camps exist among U.S. auto players, and Nissan finds itself in the more cautious of the two. While many automakers have May 4th circled on their calendars, Nissan’s looking at perhaps two weeks beyond that (and maybe more), preferring a more cautious return to production.

The U.S. hosts two Nissan vehicle assembly plants in Smyrna, Tennessee and Canton, Mississippi, plus the massive Decherd Powertrain Plant in Tennessee. Nissan now says these sites will remain closed until mid-May.

“Due to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nissan is further extending production downtime at all of its U.S. manufacturing facilities until mid-May. Some business-essential work that must be done on site will continue with enhanced safety measures,” the automaker said in a statement Thursday. “We will continue to monitor the situation closely and make adjustments as needed.”

Nissan’s financial misfortunes are well known around these parts. With a new CEO at the helm, the automaker had hoped to spend 2020 watching its new recovery plan slowly bear fruit, but the fast-moving pandemic put everything on ice. Recent reports claim Nissan will look to diminish its global presence and annual volume in the coming years in a bid for financial stability. On April 9th, a report claimed Nissan was on the hunt for $4.6 billion in credit to cover itself during the prolonged shutdown.

[Image: Nissan]