Nissan scraps plans for Japanese LFP battery plant in struggle for survival
“After careful consideration of (the) investment efficiency, we have decided to cancel the construction of a new LFP battery plant in Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture,” Nissan has stated. Reuters reported the statement as an indication of the company’s willingness to scale back its domestic market ambitions. The Japanese carmaker has already reduced its activities in China and North America.
The carmaker’s new CEO, Ivan Espinosa, is in the process of restructuring Nissan’s operations. Espinosa replaced Makoto Uchida as chief executive last month and is now orchestrating the reduction of its workforce and production capacity, as well as closing plants.
Nissan first announced the LFP battery factory in September 2024. At the time, the Japanese government was holding out the prospect of a grant of up to 340 million euros for the project. The overall project was to cost the equivalent of around 950 million euros. In January this year, the Japanese carmaker revealed that the location for the planned LFP plant was to be in the Japanese city of Kitakyushu on the southwestern island of Kyushu.
The now-cancelled plant was scheduled to begin operation in 2028, have an annual capacity of 5 GWh and produce LFP batteries for electric mini-vehicles. The planned site of around 150,000 square meters in Kitakyushu was to create around 500 jobs.
The cancellation of this project is linked to Nissan’s current crisis and the associated repositioning. Following the signs of dissolution of the Renault-Nissan alliance and the failed merger talks with Honda, the manufacturer is currently in a state of upheaval.
By the end of April, the Group warned its shareholders of a record loss in the financial year ending in March, expected to amount to 700 to 750 billion yen, or around 4.3 to 4.6 billion euros. The detailed annual results will be announced this coming Tuesday, 12 May 2025.
Other cost-cutting plans have already hit vehicle production in Wuhan, where the carmaker began operation in 2022. Nissan is also revising its model planning for North America.
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