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Nissan on Thursday cut its annual operating profit forecast by
43%. Sources said plans to slash jobs, close manufacturing sites
and drop products have been already prompted, as the automaker
steps back from an aggressive pursuit of market share championed
by former leader Carlos Ghosn.
In addition to Nissan Korea's plans for voluntary redundancy,
some of its around 60 employees have already submitted letters
of resignation, the person said, declining to be identified as
the issue was sensitive.
"We are committed to driving an efficient organization to take
us on a growth path together. As such, we are carefully
reviewing our operations setup. We are currently not in the
position to share more details. Our primary focus remains
providing great products and the highest levels of sales and
services to our valued customers," Nissan said in a statement.
On top of a dim earnings outlook and restructuring at Japan's
No. 2 automaker, Nissan's South Korean business has also
suffered from a diplomatic row between the two countries that
has led to consumer boycotts and efforts by Seoul to cut the
economy's reliance on imports from Japan.
In South Korea, Nissan Korea sold 3,049 Nissan brand vehicles in
2019, down 40% from 5,053 vehicles a year earlier, and 2,000
Infiniti vehicles in 2019, down 6% from 2,130 vehicles a year
earlier, according to auto registration data from Korea
Automobile Importers & Distributors Association.
(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Additional reporting by Naomi Tajitsu
in Tokyo; editing by David Evans)
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