The potential merger with Honda likely can’t come soon enough for Nissan. It’s looking to cut its workforce and plans to reduce production of two of its most important models as sales slide.
Nissan said it would cut the second shift on the assembly lines responsible for building the Rogue and Altima at its Smyrna, TN, and Canton, MS plants. Its engine plant in Decherd, TN, will also see output cuts but won’t lose any shifts. The move is a calculated risk, as those two vehicles are the brand’s top-selling models, accounting for 42 percent of the company’s sales combined, and must make money. Despite their popularity, sales slowed, and dealers still had too many Rogues on their lots last year, so there could be room to play with.
More than 1,500 employees are slated to receive buyout offers, with longer-tenured workers seeing the most generous buyouts. Nissan hasn’t said how many jobs it ultimately hopes to eliminate, but it did confirm that it would not conduct layoffs if the buyouts didn’t deliver the intended reduction in force. The company was able to cut almost 500 jobs last year through buyouts for some salaried workers.
Nissan isn’t yet backing down on its EV plans as part of the recovery efforts. It still expects to start producing electric vehicles in Canton by 2028, which it said would eventually drive hiring at the facility. Smyrna will get its second shift back in 2027 as the next-generation Rogue goes into production, along with a plug-in hybrid variant.
[Images © 2024/2025 Tim Healey/TTAC, Nissan]
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