Nissan may sell off its global headquarters in Yokohama, Japan to help finance the costs it will incur closing down seven factories and axing 20,000 jobs worldwide.
According to the Nikkei, the company has placed its headquarters in Yokohama on the list of assets it might sell by the end of March 2026.
Nissan’s HQ is located on the banks on the Katabira River, and is only a few minutes walk from Yokohama station. Thanks to its prime location, it is estimated to be worth around ¥100 billion (A$1.07 billion).
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The current HQ was opened in 2009 when then-CEO Carlos Ghosn relocated the company’s headquarters from Tokyo back to its spiritual home in Yokohama. The building contains an extensive gallery showcasing some of the automaker’s most iconic models, race cars, and concepts.
It’s unclear if Nissan plans to move out of the current headquarters, or if it will lease it back. So-called lease back arrangements are common for companies undergoing financial stress, or wishing to gain a pot cash to fund certain projects.
Money raised by the sale of the building and property would be used to pay for restructuring costs related to Nissan’s upcoming plant closures and workforce reduction.
The automaker said restructuring costs are expected to cost ¥60 billion (A$640 million) in this current financial year alone.
Nissan has been skating on thin financial ice for the last year-and-a-bit. Earlier this month it announced a loss of ¥670.9 billion (A$7.1 billion) for the financial year ending March 2025.
In response new Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa unveiled a recovery plan dubbed Re:Nissan, which will see the company reduce its factory count from 17 to 10, and cut its global workforce by 15 per cent or 20,000 people, both by March 2028.
A recent report indicates plants in Japan, Mexico, South Africa, Argentina and India are facing the axe. The company’s plant in the UK, which produces the Qashqai and Juke, has been ruled safe, and the head of Nissan Oceania is “quietly optimistic” about the long-term future of Nissan’s parts factory in Dandenong, Victoria.
As part of the company’s latest turnaround plan, Nissan will renegotiate its deals with suppliers, cut down on platforms, and reduce development times.
It has also setup a cost-cutting “transformation office” with an initial staff of 300 experts who have been “empowered to make cost decisions”. On top of this development of vehicles and technology due after March 2027 has been paused in order to allocate 3000 people to find more savings.
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