Amidst financial challenges with low sales and operating margins, Nissan has made the decision to shutter its first factory built outside of Japan. Automotive production will come to an end by March 2026 at Ciudad Industrial del Valle de Cuernavaca industrial park in Mexico, with production being moved to another site in Aguascalientes.
The Ciudad Industrial del Valle de Cuernavaca site is nearly 60 years old and manufactures Nissan’s Frontier, NP300/Navara, and Versa. It started with the Datsun Bluebird in 1966 before adding a second line for light trucks, and has since produced more than 6.5 million vehicles representative of 11 percent of the manufacturer’s Mexican production.
This is one of seven factories to close as part of the automaker’s recovery efforts, which include a reduction in global production from 3.5 million to 2.5 million. It also announced the closure of its Oppama operation in Japan, with another closure slated for Plant #1 in Thailand. The plan there is to consolidate operations into Plant #2. Automotive News has also reported that Nissan will dissolve its Cooperation Manufacturing Plant Aguascalientes (COMPAS) joint venture with Mercedes-Benz after ending production of the QX50 and QX55 later this year, while the GLB will be phased out in the first quarter of 2026.
Another part of the recovery efforts has been to lay off a significant number of employees and reassign 3,000 R&D employees, which has not only reduced costs but prompted greater innovation as the focus has shifted from new models to identifying opportunities to improve efficiencies and cut costs.
Despite the shift in development, Nissan also wants to grow sales by launching new models, revamp the Infiniti offering, and work with partners Renault and Mitsubishi on other initiatives.
