TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese automaker Nissan said on Wednesday that the company would stop production at its Civac plant in Mexico by March 2026 as part of its global restructuring plan.
The embattled automaker would integrate vehicle production from its Civac plant to its Aguascalientes complex in Mexico during the current financial year, the company said in a statement.
The announcement comes after Japan's third-largest automaker said this month it will stop producing cars at two sites in Japan, namely
its Oppama plant by March 2028 and Nissan Shatai's Shonan factory by March 2027.
Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa said in the statement that Mexico remained a strategic pillar for the company.
"Today, we have made the difficult but necessary decision, that will allow us to become more efficient, more competitive, and more sustainable," he said.
The automaker first started operations at the Civac plant in 1966, a move that marked its initial expansion outside of Japan. The plant has produced more than 6.5 million vehicles to date, according to Nissan.
Nissan is set to report first-quarter financial results later on Wednesday.
The automaker has been moving ahead with a drastic restructuring aimed at slashing costs and restoring profitability and its performance in key markets such as the U.S. and China.
The plan includes slashing global production capacity to 2.5 million vehicles from 3.5 million and manufacturing sites to 10 from 17.
(Reporting by Daniel Leussink, Kaori Kaneko and Satoshi Sugiyama; Editing by Tom Hogue and Jamie Freed)
