Nissan to close Indonesia, Spain auto plants after losses

TOKYO (AP) — Nissan announced Thursday it will close two auto plants, in Spain and Indonesia, as it sank into the red for the first time in 11 years after the coronavirus pandemic sent global demand plunging and halted production.

Nissan’s Chief Executive Makoto Uchida told reporters the production in Europe will be centered at the British plant in Sunderland, and the production in Indonesia will move to Thailand, as the Japanese automaker reduces global production by 20%.

Nissan Motor Co. reported Thursday a 671.2 billion yen ($6.2 billion) loss for the fiscal year ended in March, its first annual loss since the aftermath of the financial crisis in the year ending in March 2009.

Yokohama-based Nissan had recorded a 319.1 billion yen profit the previous fiscal year through March 2019.

Nissan said its global vehicle production dropped 62% in April to 150,388 vehicles from a year ago. Global vehicle sales slipped nearly 42% last month.

Its sales for the fiscal year ended in March sank nearly 15% to 9.9 trillion yen ($91.6 billion).

“The future remains unclear and it is extremely hard to predict,” Uchida said.

Nissan had spent much of the past year seeking to patch up its tarnished reputation, damaged by the November 2018 arrest of former Chairman Carlos Ghosn over financial misconduct allegations, including under-reporting future compensation and misusing Nissan money.

Nissan, which makes the Leaf electric car, X-Trail sport utility vehicle and Infiniti luxury models, also appeared to be beset by confusion at the top managerial levels for some time. Ghosn, sent in by Renault in 1999 when Nissan was near-bankrupt, had been such a major figure at Nissan’s helm for so many years.

The coronavirus outbreak came on top of such woes.

Uchida acknowledged Nissan was...