Nissan has '12 or 14 months' to survive without new investor – report

A senior official has reportedly said the company’s future is questionable if it cannot find a new investor to recover from its current woes.

Nissan reportedly has a little over a year to save itself – and ensure the company’s future – with sliding sales, increased costs and global job losses leading to a self-proclaimed ‘Emergency Mode’.

That’s the situation according to an unnamed ‘senior official’ close to the car maker who told the Financial Times, “We [Nissan] have 12 or 14 months to survive” with the company exploring “all options” to help it recover from its current slump.

The report follows Nissan declaring it had entered ‘Emergency Mode’, slashing 9000 jobs, reducing production capacity and delaying new models in the wake of a ¥9.3 billion ($AU94 million) loss in the third quarter (June-July-August) of 2024.

Nissan posted a ¥190.7 billion ($AU1.93 billion) profit over the same period in 2023.

The decline stemmed from slow sales in key countries, including the world’s two largest new-car markets, China – where it recorded its biggest slump of 14.3 per cent between April and September 2024 – and the United States (US), down 2.7 per cent.

Nissan’s global sales over the same period fell 3.8 per cent year on year, including a 2.4 per cent fall in Japan.

“This is going to be tough. And in the end, we need Japan and the US to be generating cash,” said the senior official close to Nissan.

The search for an investor comes after Renault dropped its 43 per cent stake in Nissan to 36 per cent in 2023, with Nissan buying back a further five per cent in September 2024 with a plan to get to 15 per cent cross-holdings between the two car makers.

Renault first bought into Nissan in 1999, with Mitsubishi becoming the third member of the Alliance in 2016 when Nissan took a 34 per cent controlling stake in its fellow Japanese car maker.

As part of Nissan’s 'Emergency Mode', the car maker reduced its stake in Mitsubishi to 24 per cent to raise funds, offloading 10 per cent in November 2024.

The Financial Times report suggests Renault was open to selling some or all of its remaining Nissan stake to Honda, although neither company has made any official comment on such a plan.

All three Japanese car makers have been struggling in China, as have German brands as sales of domestic makes continue to grow.

“We are currently exploring all possibilities and are eager to cooperate in areas where we can leverage our strengths,” a Mitsubishi spokesperson told the Financial Times regarding any tie-ups with other car brands.

It also reported Nissan executives describing Honda investing in the company as a “last resort”, although it appears a distinct possibility if Nissan is truly facing bankruptcy.

Nissan Australia sales in 2024 defy trends elsewhere, with sales up 16.2 per cent to the end of October – including record sales of the Nissan Patrol – outperforming the overall market's 1.9 per cent rise.