Nissan plans 12,500 layoffs after operating profits fall 98%

Enlarge / Hiroto Saikawa, president and chief executive officer of Nissan, speaks at the company’s headquarters in Yokohama, Japan, on July 25, 2019. (credit: Akio Kon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Nissan says it will reduce global headcount by 12,500 people over the next three years after a brutal quarter that saw net income fall by 95% year over year.

Automakers around the world have been struggling in recent months. Ford said earlier this year that it would cut 12,000 jobs in Europe, while General Motors has announced plans to eliminate thousands of jobs in a series of cuts.

Nissan has been having a particularly rough year. Then-Chairman Carlos Ghosn was arrested in November 2018 on corruption charges, creating a massive distraction for the company. Nissan has a complex set of financial relationships with Renault and Mitsubishi that make management of the company more complicated. Since Ghosn’s dismissal from Nissan’s board, CEO Hiroto Saikawa has struggled to turn the automaker’s fortunes around.