Nissan Motor Co. is offering voluntary buyouts to workers at its manufacturing plants in Smyrna, Tennessee and Canton, Mississippi, to scale back production and cut costs amid cooling global sales, company spokesman Brian Brockman told Automotive Dive.
The automaker, which is in merger talks with Honda Motor Co., does not plan to shutter the two plants, which combined employ 10,000 workers, Brockman said in an email to Automotive Dive. Instead, Nissan intends to cut one shift from each site and has long-term plans to continue building vehicles at both locations.
Nissan intends to implement the shift reductions by mid-April. There will be no job cuts at either plant and the company has “never conducted involuntary layoffs within our full-time technician population in our U.S. manufacturing operations in more than 40 years of operations,” Brockman said.
Eligible employees will receive voluntary separation information in mid-February and have until late March to decide, Brockman said. He did not disclose how many workers Nissan sought to accept the buyout.
Nissan’s U.S. production changes will also impact its powertrain facility in Decherd, Tennessee, but there are no plans for shift reductions at that plant. Instead, Nissan will rebalance some work across multiple production lines.
“Some lines will see some increased line speeds while others will slow,” Brockman said. “Accordingly, we will see a smaller impact on the workforce needs at that facility.”
Nissan’s latest action follows its November announcement to eliminate 9,000 jobs and cut 20% of global production as worldwide vehicle sales slowed. The automaker sold 3.3 million vehicles globally in 2024, a 7.9% year-over-year drop, according to its December production report. However, its U.S. sales improved 0.8% YoY with 924,008 vehicles sold.
Brockman said the moves coincide with the company’s broader plan to transition some of its U.S. production to EVs while continuing to produce gas-powered vehicles.
“This approach ensures more efficient operations at the plants under current market conditions, while giving us flexibility to expand when future product programs require,” he said.
These are Nissan’s plans for its U.S. manufacturing plants:
Smyrna, Tennessee
- Workforce: 5,700
- Vehicle models produced: Rogue, Murano, Pathfinder, and Infiniti QX60
- Planned production change: The line which builds the Rogue will be reduced from two to one.
- What will remain in two-shift production: The line that produces the Murano, Pathfinder and INFINITI QX60.
- Future plans for plant: Next generation Rogue, including models with electrified powertrains, will begin production in 2026-2027.
Canton, Mississippi
- Workforce: 4,300
- Vehicle models produced: Frontier pickup, Altima
- Planned production change: The Altima-building lines will be reduced from two to one
- What will remain in two-shift production: The line that produces the Frontier pickup.
- Future plans for the plant: Canton will be Nissan’s center for U.S. electric vehicle production starting in 2028, with four new EV models planned for the facility.
Dechard, Tennessee
- Workforce: 1,700
- What it produces: The plant manufactures powertrains for all Nissan and Infiniti products assembled at plants in Smyrna, Tennessee, and Canton, Mississippi.
- Production change: No shift reductions planned, though some lines will see increased speeds while others will slow.
