Nissan is continuing to shut down production plants all over the world, with two in Mexico now set to shut shop by 2027.
After Nissan announced its closure of a long-standing Japanese plant in Oppama, the car maker is now set to shut down two assembly plants in Mexico, including a joint manufacturing venture with Mercedes-Benz, according to reports.
US publication, Automotive News, stated the nearly 60-year-old plant in Jiutepec, just south of Mexico City, is expected to shut down by the end of Japan’s financial year, March 2027, or perhaps even sooner.
The Civac plant, in Jiutepec, was Nissan’s first full-vehicle manufacturing plant to operate outside of Japan – excluding locations assembling 'knock-down shipped from its home market – and builds the Navara and Latin America’s Frontier utes.
Nissan is also set on closing the Cooperation Manufacturing Plant Aguascalientes (COMPAS) joint venture with Mercedes-Benz at the large factory in Aguascalientes, Mexico by early 2026.
The 2.37-million-square-foot (220,000 square-metre) COMPAS plant will mean the end of two Infiniti SUVs by the end of this year, industry analysts AutoForecast Solutions speculate.
A source told Automotive News that Nissan intends to consolidate Civac production into two other factories in Aguascalientes, in central Mexico.
The closure of the Civac facility could potentially serve as an opening for other brands to hone in on Latin American production.
This factory shutdown forms part of Nissan’s 'Re:Nissan' recovery plan to escape financial troubles, after declaring "emergency mode" last year.
Earlier this year, the Japanese car giant announced it would scale back from 17 to 10 production sites globally, and cut vehicle manufacturing capacity by 1 million vehicles, down to 2.5 million.
The Civac plant, which spans across 4.4 million square feet (409,000 square metres), is reportedly no longer cost-effective, said Automotive News.
Overseas figures indicate the Civac factory produced 80,000 utes last year, operating at barely a third of its capacity, and Nissan plans to build just 57,000 vehicles this year, barely 20 per cent of the 294,000 cars it built in 2016.
In March this year, Nissan's 51 per cent stake in an Indian joint-venture with Renault was bought out by the French car giant, further freeing up cash flow.
Ilana is a Melbourne-based journalist who was previously a copywriter in the Big Apple. Having moved to Melbourne for her Master of Journalism, she has written articles about food, farm machinery, fashion, and now the fast and furious. Her dream car has been a Mini Cooper since the fifth grade, eyeing its style and petite size.
