Report: Nissan Has ’12 to 14 months left’

Nissan has just "12 to 14 month survive" says two unnamed executives to Financial Times recently.

Things are looking dicey to say the least for Japanese automaker Nissan. According to a recent report by Financial Times, two unnamed Nissan executives said that the company only has “12 to 14 months to survive.”

“This is going to be tough. And in the end, we need Japan and the US (North America) to be generating cash,” added both unnamed execs further to Financial Times.

In recent months, Nissan had cut thousands of jobs and even sold a third of its stake in Mitsubishi. Prior to which, the brand’s dealers in North America were also reportedly selling products at a loss whilst overall production has also slowed.

There's also word that Nissan hasn't ruled out the possibility of selling a major stake to long-time rivals Honda, with which Nissan has an active partnership with to develop EVs together with Mitsubishi.

In light of which, it’s no surprise to learn then that Nissan is actively seeking for a new long-term investor in the form of a bank or insurance group. This is set to replace some of the equity holdings held by partners Renault.

On this note, Nissan also reportedly has not ruled out the possibility of selling a majority stake to long-time rivals Honda, with its top-tier management reportedly admitting that “all options are on the table.”

Honda’s major stake acquisition stems from the fact that both automakers had recently entered a long-term collaboration partnership together with Mitsubishi to develop electric vehicles (EVs).

Reports further indicate that current partners Renault are mulling to sell a portion of its shares in Nissan to Honda. Fuelling which is word that the French state-owned automaker seeks to restructure its 25-year alliance with Nissan.

Moreover, an unnamed Renault insider adds that the larger Honda-Nissan partnership mooted would “only be positive” for the French marque as well.

Locally, the Nissan Almera was the last all-new model launched by local assemblers and distributors ETCM back in 2020.

ETCM finally has new metal launching next month during KLIMS 2024 in the form of the Kicks e-Power (left), which it sourced from counterparts in Thailand in exchange for exporting Malaysia-made Serena S-Hybrid MPVs (right).

Closer to home, this global-level turmoil perhaps explains the Nissan brand’s slowed pace of late – local assemblers and distributors Edaran Tan Chong Motor (ETCM) hasn’t launched an all-new model since the current-gen Almera that debuted locally back in 2020.

The firm is finally launching new metal in the form of the Nissan Kicks e-Power next month during KLIMS 2024. Said model’s arrival was only made possible after ETCM negotiated for allocation from counterparts in Thailand in exchange for exporting Malaysia-made Serena S-Hybrid MPVs into said neighbouring Kingdom.