As some automakers feel the squeeze of demand falling short of supply due to a variety of internal reasons, a few are planning some serious downsizing, meaning some people working at Nissan, Audi, and Stellantis might not be working there for much longer. While not all of these people are getting laid off, this news just sucks both for those directly affected and those wanting to move into positions that may no longer exist.
Yes, headcount reductions are planned by multiple automakers, as several brands have found themselves in tight spots due to having to reap the shitty seeds they’ve sown. Guess who ends up with the short end of the stick in cases like these? That’s right, usually normal people. Expect thousands of workers in various parts of the globe to no longer be employed by these companies, although each seems to be going about things in a slightly different way. Oh, and Chinese automakers using Canada as a North American foothold? Yeah, that doesn’t seem to be happening anytime soon either.
Matt’s left me in control of today’s issue of The Morning Dump, and while I wish I could serve you up something less gloomy, sometimes those are just the cards we’re dealt. So, grab a cup of coffee or tea, sit back, and get ready to sift through some bite-sized pieces of car news you might not want to read, but should probably know about. Can’t have dessert without eating your greens, right?
It’s Getting Brutal At Nissan
As Automotive News reports, Nissan has been having a dismal stretch, and now it’s willing to do some drastic things in an attempt to escape the downward spiral. We’re talking about selling part of its stake in Mitsubishi, reducing production capacity, and laying off 9,000 employees. It’s a lot to digest, so let’s start with capacity.
Nissan now wants to achieve a cost structure that will enable it to achieve profitability even at a global volume of 3.5 million vehicles. That is about 100,000 more than its current sales figure.
To get there, [CEO Makoto] Uchida wants to cut global capacity by 20 percent to bring its global production capacity of 5 million units more in line with its annual sales numbers.
That’s an aggressive target, and it won’t come without hardship. See, Nissan currently employs 133,580 people around the world, and under this plan, 9,000 of those jobs are getting cut. However, they might not all be getting cut rapidly, as some might be slowly packaged out.
Uchida declined to give a timeline for the payroll reductions or production cuts, or say where they would take effect. Some of the cutbacks would come through voluntary separation programs, as Nissan recently did by offering buyout packages to white collar workers in the U.S.
In addition to slicing its workforce and reducing its production capacity, Nissan reportedly plans on raising some money by selling about a third of its stake in Mitsubishi to…Mitsubishi?
The holding will be bought back by Mitsubishi and amounts to 10.02 percent of its total shares. Nissan said it was selling the stake to support Mitsubishi’s shareholder value strategy as well as to enhance “Nissan’s financial flexibility” and open the door to “growth opportunities.”
At the reported sale price of ¥460.6 ($3.24) per share, the disposal of the 149.03 million shares in Mitsubishi would net Nissan around ¥68.64 billion ($482.65 million).
First of all, it’s kind of amazing that Mitsubishi has $482.65 million to throw around at share buybacks. Secondly, oh how the tables turn. A few years ago, Mitsubishi was in a bad way, with a fuel economy scandal forcing the brand to cling to Nissan to survive. In the time since, Mitsubishi seems to have made out okay with Renault-Nissan platforms, and now Nissan’s the struggling brand.
This isn’t the first time Nissan’s had its back against the wall. Back in the late 1990s, Nissan was drowning in red ink, and it took Renault stepping in to save the firm. The bulk of the problem? As the Los Angeles Times reported in 1999:
“Nissan lost touch with the market,” said George Peterson, president of AutoPacific Inc. in Santa Ana and a former Nissan executive. “It became very conservative. Instead of being entrepreneurial, Nissan went into a shell.”
Indeed, over the past few years, we’ve seen similarly conservative product decisions from the brand. A massive EV lead largely squandered. Zero hybrids currently on sale in America. Aging platforms like the FM architecture under the new Z, or the F-Alpha platform underneath the Frontier, both dating back more than 20 years. Cuts and efficiencies are only one half of building a sustainable future — the other is product. While the incoming Rogue Hybrid and plug-in hybrid will likely help, there’s still a long way to go.
It’s Getting Brutal At Audi
Nissan isn’t the only automaker planning on laying off workers. According to Germany’s Manager Magazin, Audi is planning on cutting thousands of jobs outside the factory floor, in addition to its plans of closing a plant in Brussels and wiping out 3,000 jobs there. As the publication writes:
In the medium term, the company says that jobs will be cut mainly in the indirect sector, with more than 2000 jobs at stake in development alone. Indirect sector means all those who do not work directly in production. According to Audi figures, there were around 30,000 in Germany at the end of June. The target in the indirect sector is a reduction of around 15 percent, according to Audi management. That would be around 4500 jobs in the indirect sector in Germany alone
For context, in this case, “indirect sector” workers include those in research and development roles — you know, the stuff people buy German luxury cars for. Interestingly though, Manager Magazin states “There are to be no layoffs,” which means its possible this shedding of jobs could be a slow burn as employees get packaged out or retire. So, where does the blame lie here? Well, between new models being held up by Volkswagen Group’s CARIAD software subsidiary, middling demand for some new electric models like the Q6, and reports of high-margin performance models having to be re-worked, it appears there’s lots of reprobation to go around, mostly in C-suites.
It’s Getting Even More Brutal At Stellantis
Oh, and the bloodbath continues, this time at Stellantis. Last night, the Detroit Free Press reported that Stellantis is cutting a shift in its Toledo Assembly Complex, resulting in the layoffs of 1,100 union employees. Some Christmas present, huh?
The automaker, which owns the Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat brands, announced the job cuts Wednesday, which will be effective Jan. 5. It framed the layoffs as part of the effort to reduce its inventory levels, one of the many issues that have plagued the company this year.
The company said it has issued Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification notices to state and local governments as well as the UAW.
The Toledo Complex in Ohio builds the Jeep Gladiator and Wrangler, arguably the two most-Jeep Jeeps you can buy from a Jeep showroom. However, with strong pricing combined with added competition, these models haven’t exactly been shifting the way Stellantis hoped. Wrangler sales were down 14 percent in the third quarter compared to Q3 of 2023, while Q3 Gladiator sales were down a whopping 35 percent compared to Q3 of 2023. As such, it seems that Stellantis is cutting a shift in order to reduce inventory, but that rationale doesn’t make things any better for the 1,100 workers affected indefinitely.
BYD Pauses Its Canadian Plans
A few months ago, Chinese automaker BYD was looking at sending affordable electric vehicles to Canada, and at the time, it made a ton of sense. Canada has an electrification mandate in place for 2035, the most popular passenger cars in the country are typically reasonably priced compacts, and cheap EVs need to come from somewhere, right? Well, that was before legislation broke out a big stick. As Automotive News reports, BYD has now hit freeze on its plans to sell cheap Chinese EVs in Canada. The only question now is, with tariffs announced months ago, what did it take so long for?
Over the summer, the company met with dealers across Canada on establishing a possible distribution network and engaged lobbyists to advise the federal and Ontario governments on the “expected market entry of BYD into Canada for the sale of passenger electric vehicles.”
But Ottawa’s move Aug. 26 to follow suit with the United States in imposing punishing tariffs on EV imports from China coincided with the end of BYD’s dialogue with government, public filings show. And talks with would-be distributors are now in a holding pattern, according to dealers and industry sources with knowledge of the matter, but who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Yeah, no kidding. Even in the case of dirt-cheap models like the Seagull, a 106 percent tariff would push pricing dangerously close to what shoppers on a budget are actually looking at — a damn used car. If you can live with a certain aroma, you can pick up a used Tesla Model 3 for the same price as a gently used Corolla, and that already comes with native access to the best coast-to-coast DC fast charging network in North America. Is there a non-zero chance a cheap Chinese EV could be better built than an early Model 3? Absolutely, but with a network of third-party spares for things like suspension components already built out, buying what’s already common makes sense.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
Look, it’s been a weird week, and when the going gets weird, the music does too. Thankfully, California-based duo The Hellp released a new album about two weeks ago, and it just hits the spot for weird new electroclash. There’s an undertone of anxiety to the slightly scatterbrained project called “LL”, with everything from New Rave to ambient to straight-up indie pop on the sonic palette. Here’s one of the more energetic tracks on the project, “Rllynice”.
The Big Question
With Nissan, Audi, and Stellantis all announcing workforce reductions, who’s next?
(Photo credits: Nissan, Audi, Jeep, BYD)
who’s next?
Audi’s F1 team, that’s who’s next.
they’re not even competing until 2026 season…
Yeah, it wouldn’t shock me to see them axe the F1 team. That’s a huge spend, and racing alongside marketing are two of the easiest and most common cost-reductions to make for automakers.
I think the problem with Stellantis is all due to the “ducking” of all the jeeps. Do you really want to drive around with a million rubber ducks on your Dashboard?
People forget how enormous Mitsubishi Motors is outside of the US. Mitsubishi Motors by itself is expected to have $18B in revenue in 2024, and that’s not even remotely factoring the $32B revenue Mitsubishi Heavy is expected to make.
The way the various Mitsubishi Group companies operate is very convoluted and confusing (I work for one of them), but it’s pretty common for them to shift money around between their sub-companies as needed.
Of course, Mitsubishi Heavy owns less than 1.5% of Mitsubishi Motors at this point, and even with dumping 10% of their shares, Nissan will still remain by far the largest shareholder, but Mitsubishi Group companies dominate in fragmentary ways, including through some large bank-managed trusts that are probably really them
If mitsubishi can afford to use 482 million to buy some of itself back, im sure theres some money left over for the development of an evo 11.
It always kind of amazes me to read on sites like this that people are shocked about Mitsubishi. It’s the least shocking thing to me that a car company that makes a lower cost alternative is doing okay because of course they are.
Unfortunately the MBAs that run the rest of these companies seem fit to keep prices high and sell less volume. It’s a viable short term solution I guess. I’m not so sure that long term it’s a great one as it surely is pushing more and more households from 2 car ones to 1 car + alternate transportation households.
The ebike is the new beater.
VW. They majorly whiffed the Buzz rollout here in the States. Localizing production in Chattanooga would have likely made it a little cheaper from reduced freight costs. Plus likely being eligible for the $7500 tax credit without leasing.
Making global supply chains substantially more expensive with tariffs should pull these companies out of the slump.
From my perspective, those are brands where I’d be hard pressed to consider buying anything they make. So is it that surprising to me they are struggling? Nope.
Nissan is just a pile of “meh”. No hybrids, but I guess if the Pathfinder was cheap enough maybe I take a look at it. Don’t see anything else in the lineup for me. I also wonder how much of an anchor Infiniti is to the bottom line. I legitimately forget Infiniti exists and I read car sites in my free time.
Audi is bland and not worth the cost of admission for either purchase price or maintenance. I used to look forward to possibly buying a S4/S5. Now that I possibly could consider that, they are just…snooze. If I am going to roll the dice on a German brand, I’d rather get a BMW or Mercedes. Or just spend less on a GTI.
And Stellantis….I wish they had better quality or I might consider a Pacifica. Most of the rest of their lineup seems woefully overpriced, even if they were better cars. $60k for a Grand Cherokee? Come on.
Who is next? Probably VW. And Subaru better hurry up and get a hybrid out there.
I think brands like Subaru and Honda have probably benefited from the fact Toyota cannot meet demand for its hybrids. So you shop for a Sienna or Highlander, eventually give up because Toyota dealers are garbage and there are no cars to buy, and then you head over to Honda to get an Odyssey or Subaru for an Outback.
“I legitimately forget Infiniti exists and I read car sites in my free time”
Brutal take, but 100% correct
I live in Memphis. I see Infiniti everywhere. I think it’s what Altima drivers move up to based on how I see them driving; Big Altima Energy.
But you can see them everywhere and still forget, since they may as well all be Altimas.
Lack of hybrids from any company now is baffling, they had YEARS of numerous ‘oil crisis events’ to develop these, and somehow there’s only 1 hybrid trucklet and no hybrid midsize truck? let em rot
Memories are short.
I have money today, so I buy a truck.
And I forget that I had no money yesterday
Tomorrow when I have no money again, I’ll complain about fuel costs of the truck.
Repeat.
Yeah, this is a good take. “S” cars aside, you’re getting the same engines between VW and Audi, and so much of the Audi tech has trickled down to VW, I don’t see much need to pay more for an Audi.
If I’m getting crappy VAG reliability regardless, why pay more up front?
You nailed that last paragraph. I was shopping for a Highlander Hybrid AWD, but availability was very constrained in my market and the dealers priced them like they were one-off customs (considering the dealer adds, that sorta was true). Ended up at Subaru.
I’ve been waiting for a Grand Highlander. Eventually I’ll get tired of waiting.
My guess it that it’s the Mitsubishi Group buying the shares and not Mitsubishi Motors itself.
No, it is Mitsubishi Motors, the press release is up on their website as of this morning
What do all these car companies announcing layoffs have in common? They all built junky cars that won’t last longer than the payment book. People need dependable reliable quality cars they can count on to get back and forth to work shop and do errands. It seems only three car companies can do it right Toyota Honda and Ford. Maybe Mazda.
It varies though- you can have the same vehicle and it wont last as long in Ontario through brutal winters as it would in Arizona. None of my Ford’s have been reliable or made it to 200,000klms while the Toyota’s we’ve had all made it much longer/needed less repairs over the same timeframe and environment. YMMV.
Every car company has recalls and issues, but some are better at rectifying it than others and from my experience with Ford vs. Toyota; parts are not made equal. Bearings or bushings in our Toyota’s didn’t get replaced until over 220,000klms, while all of those were replaced before 180,000klms in our Ford’s.
Ford – No.
Mazda – Yes.
Toyota & Honda – Sometimes.
I’m sorry, I must have misread… did you say ‘Ford’? The undisputed King of Recalls? Maker of the 3-cyl turbo which eats it’s oil pump belts? Maker of the PowerShift auto that was so bad it basically killed off the Focus/Fiesta line completely in the US? Maker of Triton engines that fired their sparkplugs through through the hood? That Ford?
But to be fair they fixed the Triton by making it impossible to remove the spark plugs with anything other than a 15 ton crane.
Fix it by making it worse.
The two least reliable cars I’ve ever had were a Ford and a Toyota. Somehow I managed to get the worst Camry ever built. But my Audi A4 was a tank that was trouble-free forever.
Who’s next for layoffs? VW, absolutely no question about it. They’ve been on the brink of reckoning for a few years now, but their model momentum has stalled, and they’re left with a sub-par ID lineup, and aging and uncompetitive ICE vehicles with no Hybrids. VW is going to have a deeply painful 6-9 months ahead.
This is my guess too. I was honestly surprised to see Audi doing workforce reductions before, and not with, VW.
VW is the easy answer here.
Yeah it is going to be the rest of VW shortly, I expect they will go to whatever lengths they need to to avoid completely closing any facilities within Germany, but it does mean the German workforce will still be cut and any VW plants outside Germany are potentially at risk- even if their numbers look OK, sacrifices will be made to avoid shutdowns at home
Never fails. “We need to cut costs” always translates to “We need to cut production line workers” and NEVER “Maybe we can find a CEO that will work for less than $30 million a year”.
True story. About a decade ago my employer announced a massive layoff. I was young and fresh and silly, so at a town hall I raised my hand asked if there had been any discussion of curbing executive compensation, since CEO comp was about 300X the average engineer’s. Our North American president laughed out loud to the room of several hundred people and said no, they did not discuss that. Very educational moment.
Your post reminds me of hearing the CEO of a company I worked for tell everyone at an all hands meeting that there would be no pay raises for the following year. After the meeting I saw him drive off in his brand new Dodge Viper GTS.
Reminds me of a fun little game I like to play called “guess which cars in the parking lot belong to the people that work in the carpeted area of the building”.
It’s usually pretty easy.
When I started at my current workplace, the CEO usually drove an older Subaru and parked out in the far lots, despite the other execs driving luxury vehicles and parking them in the dedicated VIP parking.
He threw a wrench in your game, but he was a rare one. The current CEO has a driver and sits in the back of a Wagoneer or something.
I take that as a good sign of leadership. Previous CEO at our company drove an old expedition, current leadership drives the same cars as the sales force. I know they have big boats and can probably afford something much nicer but don’t show it off at the office. It’s a little thing, but it gets noticed.
Absolutely. And it usually carries over to attitudes, too. The old CEO was also big on the rules applying to everyone. If the workers have to keep their badge on and visible, so do the execs. And he kept his door open and spoke to people as equals, not subordinates.
He gets driven around in a Wagoneer? You must work in Detroit?
Nah, I’m in Idaho. And I haven’t put eyes on the vehicle, so it’s possible I’ve been given incorrect info by people who aren’t into cars. It’s definitely an unnecessarily large SUV. That much is certain.
Haha, at my former company it was really easy because there was an “executive parking lot” that led to the “executive entrance.”
Now I know it’s a huge red flag if the company has special areas where only the (self-)important people can go.
I had a similar experience when I was young, and asked the Senior VP of Operations what was being done about culling the poor upper leadership that led to the stalling business that required layoffs. His glare said I was next in the layoff queue, yet surprisingly I wasn’t let go. The SVP of Ops, along with two other VPs were let go not too long after, but only because the CEO blamed them for him missing his bonus targets and losing out on millions. It was a highly educational moment for me as well, and I departed for a much better opportunity shortly thereafter.
Way back when I worked for a major computer company, their layoffs seemed to coincide with building remodeling. The remodeling could easily be argued as highly optional. Come one day there is this huge meeting with the company head and execs and a metric ton of employees. One employee asked why the perfectly good bathrooms were being remodeled while for months layoffs were happening. The employee ranked up to “Legendary” status overnight, but was surprisingly let go within 6 months. Years later, every time there were layoffs, they repainted the entire interior of our buildings. In the late 2000s, they continuously repainted the interior of our buildings. Must have been 4 coats in 2.5 years. Maybe they hoped the paint fumes would keep us so high, we wouldn’t care how bad the company was doing.
Lay offs b/c the CEO is super into interior design is a new one for me. Impressive!
What’s not covered here, but covered elsewhere, is that the CEO of Nissan is taking a 50% pay cut. Not sure if that only applies to base pay, but it’s something.
Lol, don’t defend him.
I’m not defending anyone. I don’t know how much his salary is or what it consists of. It may still be a ridiculous amount. But it is an example of the CEO sharing some of the pain. I understand it’s an exceedingly rare thing and I agree with Eggsalad’s point that it’s the workers who bear the brunt of any costs to fix management’s missteps.
Where’s the seizure induction warning on that video?
That’s a bit much for so early in the morning, that’s coming from someone who was listening to Kulture Shock and M.I.A. on the drive to work.
Kultur Shock! My guitar used to share a rehearsal space with them. Haven’t head that name in ages, thanks for the rabbithole tip!