Japanese automaker Nissan, in dire straits due to the pandemic, announced on Tuesday forecast a net loss of 670 billion yen in its 2020/21 fiscal year, or 5.4 billion euros, similar to that suffered in 2019 / 20. In the first quarter of its new financial year (April-June), the group recorded a net loss of 285.6 billion yen (2.3 billion euros), against a small profit of 6.4 billion yen a year earlier.
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Its quarterly sales fell 50.5% year-on-year to 1.174.2 billion yen (9.5 billion euros), and the group expects them to fall by 21% overall. for the year, to 7.8 trillion yen. Its sales have been affected “ significantly ” by the coronavirus pandemic, which has forced Nissan to suspend production at factories around the world in recent months, the group said in a statement.
Factories in " reduced use "
Its factories have now restarted but " face reduced use of their capacities " due to the crisis, he added. In volume, its sales over the past quarter fell 47.7% to 643,000 vehicles. They fell 33.7% in Japan and 49.5% in the United States.
In China, where Nissan publishes its results one quarter late, the group's sales volume sank 39.9% in January-March, when the country was hit hard by the Covid-19. Nissan anticipates a 4% rebound over one year in volume sales in China over the April-June period. For the sake of economy, Nissan said Tuesday that it was waiving dividends for 2020/21.
In an attempt to go up the slope, the ally of French Renault and Japanese Mitsubishi Motors further intensified its restructuring plan at the end of May, now planning to reduce its global production capacity by around 20% by 2024. It has notably decided to close its sites in Barcelona, Spain, and focus its main efforts on Japan, China and North America, while relying elsewhere on its partners.
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The three members of the alliance have all abandoned the race for volumes and started serious austerity cures to return to profitability as soon as possible.