Nissan Plans Global Lineup Pruning

Nissan Motor Company has announced plans to shad nearly 10 percent of its global product portfolio. By spring of 2022 the company will reduce its current count of 60 nameplates across its Nissan, Infiniti and Datsun brands.

Nissan confirmed the plans last week as part of a broader restructuring announcement. The Japanese automaker says it plans to have its portfolio trimmed by March 31, 2022, but the announcement also includes significant reductions to its global workforce and capacity reductions at its plants.

So far Nissan has not shed any light as to which nameplates may trim from its global lineup, but it is suspected at least a few will be small cars. The automaker has a sedan-heavy lineup, which is negative in today’s marketplace. Possible targets for cuts could be the Nissan Versa and Sentra, which are seen as redundant market entries in an era where small car sales are declining.

Nissan’s coupe models are also potential targets for cuts, including the Nissan 370Z and Infiniti Q60. Sales of both models have nosedived thus far in 2019.

Nissan is likely to reduce its options and trim levels as well. Many dealerships complain about Nissan’s current trim level strategy, calling them complicated and expensive to inventory.

Facing plunging profits, Nissan is ultimately going to have a tough call to make with the full-size Titan truck. Sales of the Titan are down 23 percent so far in 2019. The truck has gained little traction against the Big 3 full-size pickups, earning just over 2 percent of the full-size truck segment.

In addition to confirming planned reductions in both its workforce and lineup, Nissan also reiterated its commitment to bringing out electrified vehicles. Nissan says it will launch eight electric vehicles with a goal of achieving 1 million in sales of EVs by 2022.