AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)05/30 Report--

Nearly 1,000 workers surrounded the factory and set fire to tires in protest after learning that Nissan planned to close its factory in Barcelona, Spain, according to foreign media reports. It is understood that the closure of the Barcelona plant is part of Nissan's global restructuring plan to cut costs, which will lead to 2800 job losses, which will be dissatisfied with workers who are about to lose their jobs.

It is understood that the Barcelona plant is one of Nissan's most important factories in Europe. Since its opening in the 1980s, its main business is the production of electric vans and pick-up trucks. Nissan's decision to close factories is also a blow to Spain, where unemployment is soaring and the economy is about to fall into a deep recession as a result of the epidemic. Spanish Foreign Minister Alanca Gonzalez Leia said the Spanish government will do everything it can to reverse Nissan's decision to close the plant. But Nissan CEO Uchida said the company made the difficult decision to close the plant in order to reduce excess capacity and improve the company's overall competitiveness.

Nissan plans to cut global production by 20 to 5.4 million vehicles over the next four years, meaning that capacity at the Barcelona plant will fall below 25 per cent, while too low production will not be able to support normal operation. In addition to closing its plant in Barcelona, Nissan will close its Indonesian plant, cut operations in South America, ASEAN and Europe, and withdraw the Dartsong brand from South Korea and Russia.

According to Nissan's financial report, the net profit for fiscal 2019 was 671.2 billion yen (- 44.5 billion yuan), compared with 319.1 billion yen in the same period last year. This is another full-year loss for Nissan since fiscal year 2008, mainly due to the impact of the epidemic on the global car market, coupled with the internal turmoil in the company after Ghosn's arrest, leading to a sharp decline in Nissan's performance against the backdrop of a depressed market and declining demand for new cars.

The new four-year plan undertakes Nissan's goal of turning losses into profits, and Nissan will reverse the losses by cutting marketing, research and development and other costs. It is understood that Nissan plans to reduce the production of models from the current 69 to 55, while cutting annual production capacity by 20 to 5.4 million vehicles. At the same time, Nissan will focus on the development of the three major markets: China, the United States and Japan. Nissan stressed that the Chinese market is the next core market, although Nissan has carried out global restructuring and achieved cost cuts through measures such as plant closures and layoffs, but it has little impact on the Chinese market.

At present, the Chinese market carries the core of Nissan's future development. During the epidemic, the Chinese market basically stagnated, and then recovered rapidly after the epidemic. In the global market, only China can provide more stable car sales.

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