Nissan Motor Co. (7201.T) announced Friday that it has cancelled plans to construct a ¥153.3 billion ($1.05 billion) electric vehicle battery plant in Kyushu, citing concerns over investment efficiency. The facility, originally set for Kitakyushu in Fukuoka Prefecture, would have created about 500 jobs and supplied lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries beginning in July 2028.
The Japanese government had pledged up to ¥55.7 billion in subsidies for the plant, which was expected to produce 5 gigawatt-hours annually. However, Nissan has opted to reassess its domestic ambitions amid broader financial and operational challenges.
“Nissan is taking immediate turnaround actions and exploring all options to recover its performance,” the company said in a statement. “After careful consideration of investment efficiency, we have decided to cancel the construction of a new LFP battery plant in Kitakyushu City.”
In a separate development, the Nikkei reported that Nissan is preparing to offer early retirement to several hundred administrative staff in Japan — the first such domestic reduction in 18 years. While the company declined to confirm the report, the move would mirror its 2007 programme, when it cut 1,500 jobs amid a declining home market.
This comes as part of a broader restructuring plan under new CEO Ivan Espinosa, who assumed leadership from Makoto Uchida last month. The automaker previously announced it would eliminate 9,000 jobs globally and reduce production capacity by 20%.
Nissan is currently grappling with mounting losses and forecasts a net loss of between ¥700 billion and ¥750 billion ($4.80 billion–$5.14 billion) for the fiscal year ended in March, primarily due to impairment charges. The company will present its recovery roadmap and financial outlook when it releases its full-year results on Tuesday.
