Nissan Reportedly To Cease Production Of Compact Van Ahead Of Possible Honda Merger

(RTTNews) - Japanese carmaker Nissan Motors Co. Ltd. (NSANF.PK, NSANY.PK) plans to stop production of its AD compact van in November to reduce excess production as it prepares to merge with Honda Motor Co., reports said.

The van's manufacturing unit Nissan Shatai, in which Nissan has a 50% stake, is yet to make any decisions on job cuts.

The news comes as Honda and Nissan are set to announce a framework for talks later this month. They plan to list a separate holding company in August 2026.

In late December, Honda announced that it was in official talks to merge with Nissan. Both companies signed a memorandum of understanding then to start discussions and considerations toward a business integration through the establishment of a joint holding company.

The companies then said they would establish an integration preparatory committee and would conduct focused discussions. Execution of a definitive agreement concerning the business integration is scheduled for June 2025.

According to Blommberg, the AD van accounted for about 7,000 of the 150,000 cars Nissan Shatai produced during the 2023 fiscal year at its Shonan plant in Kanagawa.

Nissan, which has been reporting significantly weak profit, previously had announced thousands of job cuts and plans to trim its manufacturing capacity.

Meanwhile, Nikkei reported recently that about 6,700 of the 9,000 job cuts announced late last year will be in its production units.