Nissan reports 'steady progress' despite axing jobs and closing production line in Sunderland

Nissan has published its financial reports, showing steady progress, just a week after announcing that it would be cutting hundreds of jobs and making major changes to its UK factory.

The Japanese brand has confirmed that it delivered a positive operating profit of 58.0 billion yen (£271.9billion), which it said was driven by "disciplined execution".

It sold 3.15 million units, while consolidated revenue reached 12 trillion yen (£56.2billion), although net income remained negative at 533.1 billion yen (£2.5billion).

Nissan acknowledged that the 2026 financial year would "remain challenging", citing competition, inflation and geopolitical uncertainty.

It recently launched the Re:Nissan recovery strategy to address its financial strategy and ensure it can rebound from difficult years.

Nissan is aiming to achieve positive automotive operating profit and free cash flow by the end of the financial year.

However, it warned that this excluded the impact of tariffs, with US President Donald Trump escalating fears once again after threatening new auto tariffs on the European Union.

Commenting on the financial results and the Re:Nissan strategy, CEO Ivan Espinosa said the brand strived to evolve the customer experience while maintaining its cost-cutting measures.

He added: "FY2025 marked a year of steady execution under Re:Nissan, where we strengthened our foundation and began to see tangible progress in our financial performance.

"At the same time, we set our long‑term direction with Mobility Intelligence for everyday life. We have moved beyond recovery and are entering a phase of growth.

"In FY2026, we will build on this momentum through disciplined cost management and faster product execution, driving sales and profitability as we deliver our Re:Nissan commitments."

Last week, a Nissan spokesperson told GB News that it was taking "decisive actions" to enhance the company through its Re:Nissan recovery plan.

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It has opened discussions with its employees across Europe as it looks to "simplify structures, reduce complexity and ensure we operate in a sustainable and profitable way".

As part of this, Nissan confirmed that it would consolidate production from two lines to one at its Sunderland plant.

Nissan added that it was assessing the future opportunities to secure full plant utilisation, with some reports suggesting that Chinese brands could use the factory to produce vehicles, although this has not been confirmed.

It comes just months after Nissan launched production of its all-new, third-generation Leaf electric vehicle at the Sunderland facility.

Nissan's Sunderland factory, which is the biggest employer in the region, held a ceremony to mark the start of production, which was attended by executives from the brand, council leaders and Business Secretary Peter Kyle.

The development of the Leaf electric vehicle at the Sunderland plant followed a £450million investment to transform production lines and train around 6,000 staff.

Other changes to the Nissan ecosystem included proposals to partially close the Barcelona warehouse and to move to an importer model for Nordic markets.