Struggling Japanese automaker Nissan has forecasted an operating loss of 275 billion yen for its fiscal year ending March 2026, amid ongoing economic headwinds. The company reported a better-than-expected operating loss of 30 billion yen for the first half through September.
Nissan Motor Co. reported a net loss of 671 billion yen for the fiscal year ended March 2025 and launched an effort to cut 20,000 jobs, equivalent to 15 percent of its workforce. In this challenging environment, the company revised its sales forecast for the fiscal year ending March 2026 downward to 11.7 trillion yen from an initial estimate of 12.5 trillion yen in May.
The 30 billion yen operating loss for the first half through September was better than previously forecasted, attributed to one-time benefits such as lower costs for emission regulations and the deferral of some project costs to the second half. Chief Financial Officer Jeremie Papin said, "While our first-half results reflect temporary benefits and payback from cost-saving initiatives, we anticipate ongoing challenging competitive environment in the second half, supply chain risks and the seasonality of business."
The anticipated worsening in the second half stems from supply chain risks, foreign exchange volatility, tariffs, and other external factors. Nissan has encountered numerous setbacks in recent years, including the 2018 arrest of former chairman Carlos Ghosn and the collapse in February of merger talks with Honda, where the latter proposed making Nissan a subsidiary. Among Japan's major automakers, analysts view Nissan as likely to be most severely affected by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on imported vehicles.