Nissan says report on plant sales mere speculation

According to Bloomberg Nissan’s CEO, Ivan Espinosa, is working hard to save the struggling Japanese carmaker, which faces a $5.6 billion debt repayment wall next year. The company is seeking to raise more than $7 billion from debt and asset sales to keep operations on track.

It is also reported that Nissan is seeking to sell part of its stakes in Renault and battery maker AESC, as well as plants in South Africa and Mexico, according to Bloomberg. Sale- and lease-back plans for its Yokohama headquarters, plus properties it owns in the US, are also on the cards.

Nissan was in talks earlier this year with Honda to join forces, but the talks collapsed. More recently, there was speculation that Toyota might be interested in helping Nissan but to date no concrete steps have come from the speculation.

Nissan Motor Corporation says in its reaction to reports on the potential closure of certain plants that it wants to clarify that this news is speculative and not based on any official company information.

“We have officially announced to consolidate the production of Nissan Frontier/Nissan Navara pickups, currently split between Mexico and Argentina, into a single production HUB in the region, centralised at the CIVAC plant in Morelos, Mexico. In March, we announced that Renault Group would own 100% of Renault Nissan Automotive India Private Ltd (RNAIPL), by acquiring the 51%shareholding currently held by Nissan.

“At this time, we will not be providing further comments on this matter. Our focus remains on our operations and the dedicated workforce that drives our success. We are committed to maintaining transparency with our stakeholders and will communicate any relevant updates as necessary,” the Nissan statement says.