Nissan has closed a car plant in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, China, in an effort to cut its production capacity in the country and rebuild its operations there, according to informed sources.
The closure on Friday came amid the rapid spread of electric vehicles in China, which has led to serious sales slumps for Japanese automakers, known for their strength in gasoline vehicles.
The Changzhou plant was a comparatively new factory, which started operating in November 2020. It was operated by a joint venture between Nissan and state-owned Chinese automaker Dongfeng Motor.
According to Nissan, the plant manufactured approximately 130,000 vehicles annually, representing about 10% of the Japanese automaker's total production in China. Nissan plans to continue the production of a sports utility vehicle model that had been assembled at the Changzhou plant at a separate factory, the sources said.
In 2023, Nissan saw its new car sales in China drop 16.1% from the previous year. The downward trend persisted after the turn of the year, with sales in January-May 2024 falling 1.0% from a year earlier.
Other Japanese automakers are also facing challenges in the Chinese market. Mitsubishi Motors last year announced its withdrawal from vehicle production in China, while Toyota and Honda have been forced to cut jobs and make production adjustments in the country.