WASHINGTON – Nissan Motor’s US arm said on Wednesday that supply chain issues will force it to trim production this month at its Canton, Mississippi, assembly plant.
The Japanese automaker said it will cut some production days in November for its Titan and Frontier pickup trucks as well as its Altima sedan.
The cuts, which were reported earlier by Automotive News, are expected to be similar in December. A memo to dealers seen by Reuters said the cuts are “due to supply chain disruptions related to ongoing semiconductor chip shortages in the industry”.
Nissan told dealers that despite the cuts, “total shipments to retailers are still forecasted to be up quarter over quarter”. The company said that “the long-awaited start of sales for the next generation of Nissan electric vehicles (EVs) will begin before the end of the calendar year” as it aims for 40 per cent EV sales by 2030.
Nissan declined to specify how many units of production will be lost. As at Sept 30, Nissan’s sales in the United States sales are down 31 per cent to about 538,000.
The e-mail to dealers said that “Nissan’s total dealer inventory has more than doubled in the last 60 days and is up (about) 70 per cent compared with the same time last year”.
Mr Sam Fiorani, vice-president at production forecasting firm AutoForecast Solutions, estimated that the announced downtime will remove about 9,000 units of production in November and December, and potentially more.
A persistent chip shortage over the last two years has affected everything from cars and washing machines to video games and weapons. REUTERS
