Why Nissan is closing flagship factory with 3,900 workers

Nissan has announced plans to shut down its flagship Oppama plant in Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, by the end of the 2027 fiscal year.

Giving reason for its plan, the company explained that the decision was a part of a broader effort to cut costs and streamline operations.

The company said in a statement on Tuesday that vehicle production at the factory will end in March 2028. After that, all models previously made or scheduled for production at Oppama will be shifted to the Nissan Motor Kyushu plant in Fukuoka Prefecture, in southwestern Japan.

The Oppama plant has played a major role in the company’s history. Opened in 1961, it was one of Japan’s earliest large-scale automobile factories and has been called Nissan’s “mother factory.” It has produced more than 17.8 million vehicles, including the Leaf electric car, which debuted there in 2010. The plant currently employs about 3,900 workers.

The closure is part of Nissan’s ongoing restructuring aimed at improving profitability. The company has said previously that it is consolidating production sites to operate more efficiently.

Nissan, headquartered in Yokohama, has cited a number of challenges to its bottom line, including international trade policies.

“The tariff policies of President Donald Trump have hurt its bottom line,” the company said.

Earlier this year, Nissan announced it would cut about 15% of its global workforce—around 20,000 jobs—building on a previous reduction of 9,000 positions, including cuts in China.

The automaker has faced declining sales, particularly in China, and has been impacted by high restructuring costs and increasing inventories. It has also been reducing its global footprint, aiming to shrink the number of production sites from 17 to 10. At the time, it did not specify which plants would be closed but confirmed that some closures would happen in Japan. The company is also reducing annual production capacity from 3.5 million to 2.5 million vehicles.

For the fiscal year ending in March, Nissan reported a loss of 670.9 billion yen ($4.5 billion), a sharp downturn from the 426.6 billion yen profit the previous year.

Ivan Espinosa, who became Nissan’s CEO in April, was expected to speak with reporters later on Tuesday. He succeeded Makoto Uchida, who resigned to take responsibility for the company’s poor performance.

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