Nissan is to axe around 110 jobs and close four regional sales offices in the US as it seeks to remain competitive in the market. The actions include a restructuring of the Nissan North America (NNA) sales and marketing operations and the integration of Nissan Design America (NDA).
In a statement, Nissan said that NNA would move from a field structure based on 11 regional sales offices to a new structure with seven regional sales offices and 23 satellite offices in 18 locations across the United States.
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The shift involves the closure of four offices: Nissan Mid-Atlantic in Herndon, Virginia; Nissan Northwest in Pleasanton, California; Infiniti Central in Aurora, Illinois; and Infiniti South in Atlanta, Georgia.
Nissan added that it would expand personnel in the sales and marketing organisation to support each dealer and create a dedicated electric vehicle project team.
Meanwhile, NDA is integrating its operations into its San Diego studio beginning from 1 April.
“This action is being taken to strengthen NDA’s role in Nissan’s global design organisation by increasing the level of participation in the exploratory and advanced phases of North American and global design projects,” the company said.
“This integration will result in the redeployment of the design facility in Farmington Hills, Michigan, for use by other functions of the company. This does not impact the research and development operations at Nissan Technical Centre North America, which has facilities in Farmington Hills and in Stanfield, Arizona.
Taken together, these actions will eliminate approximately 110 positions, the company said. Nissan said it intends to achieve the majority of these reductions through voluntary departures.
Earlier this month it emerged that Nissan Motor is to continue production cuts at US assembly plants indefinitely.
The plants in Tennessee and Mississippi reduced production from five to four days a week last October as the credit crisis in North America worsened.
Along with other automakers, both domestic and foreign, Nissan has been scaling back North American production as demand for larger vehicles, in particular, has fallen.
It eliminated a truck night shift at its Smyrna, Tennessee, plant last August and has offered staff both there and at the Decherd engine plant a variety of voluntary departure options available in the 2008-2010 financial years.
