Nissan considering closing its South African plant, Japanese source says

NISSAN dropped a bombshell on its workforce last week with the announcement that it planned to expand its ‘turnaround plan’ to include more plant closures and layoffs than previously envisaged.

Following an annual net loss of 671 billion yen (R82 billion), the company announced on Tuesday that it planned to close seven of its 17 factories by fiscal year 2027, while reducing the workforce by around 20,000.

Unfortunately, it appears that Nissan’s Rosslyn plant in Gauteng could be a casualty of this significant restructure, if the latest international reports are anything to go by.

International news agency Reuters, citing a single unnamed source, reported over the weekend that the South African plant was among those being considered for closure by the parent company in Japan.

Also facing possible closure are Nissan’s plants in India and Argentina, one of its Mexican factories and two Japanese facilities, with the latter also mentioned by a second source.

However, Nissan said in a statement that these reports, on the specific plant closures, were speculative and not based on any official information from the company.

“At this time, we will not be providing further comments on this matter," Nissan said.

“We are committed to maintaining transparency with our stakeholders and will communicate any relevant updates as necessary."

However, the South African plant does appear to be in a vulnerable position in terms of its volumes, with current production levels averaging around 1,200 units per month in the first four months of 2025.

This includes the production of the Navara single-cab and double-cab bakkies for South African consumption and exports into Africa.

The Navara is currently the only vehicle produced at Rosslyn, following the discontinuation of the NP200 compact bakkie in 2024, after its Russian-developed replacement was cancelled due to the war with Ukraine.

Around that time, a Nissan SA representative told Moneyweb that the company was attempting to source another successor to the NP200 and was also investigating a third model for the Rosslyn plant.

Nissan’s more aggressive international restructure puts all of these projects in jeopardy, although it’s worth keeping in mind that no final decisions appear to have been made with regard to plant closures.