Nissan Motor Co Ltd shares fell Friday in Japan and is set to slash its global production by about 15 percent for the current fiscal year ending March 2020.
According to Nikkei newspaper, the Japanese auto maker is shifting away from the aggressive expansion campaign supported by former Chairman Carlos Ghosn.
Nissan aims to produce about 4.6 million vehicles in fiscal 2019. That would be the steepest production cut in more than a decade by the Japanese automaker, as it battles weak sales in overseas markets including the United States where it plans to scale back sales operations, the Nikkei reported.
According to Reuters, Nissan said in an emailed statement that the report was not based on its announcement and the company would not comment on speculation.
Earlier this year, Nissan, which has been battling falling sales, lowered its operating profit forecast for the current fiscal year to 450 billion yen ($4 billion), 22 percent lower than a year earlier. It would be Nissan’s lowest profit since 2013.
Ghosn was removed as chairman in November and is currently being held in jail in Tokyo on financial misconduct charges.
Shares in Nissan, mired in a financial misconduct scandal involving Ghosn and the company itself, were trading down 1.2 percent early on Friday, versus a 0.6 percent rise in the broader market.
Yetunde Adegoke (Reuters)
