Nissan Will Shut Down U.S. Operations January 2 And 3 To Improve Competitiveness

• Nissan U.S. operations will be closed on January 2 and 3
• Dealership network will remain open
• Nissan employees won’t be paid during the two-day shut down

Nissan will shut down its U.S. operations for two days on January 2 and 3, 2020 in a bid to “optimize business performance and competitiveness” according to a Nissan spokesperson who spoke with CNN Business.

Nissan employees won’t be paid during the shut down, but the company’s dealership network in the U.S. will remain open.

Nissan’s decision to halt operations for two days is certainly unorthodox. With 14,500 employees in the U.S., the move could translate into millions of dollars saved for the Japanese automaker who saw its sales drop 7.8 percent this year in the United States.

In Canada, things aren’t much better for the Japanese automaker who is down 8.6 percent compared to 2018. That said, Nissan isn’t the only automaker hurting.

Passenger car sales are down over 15 percent in 2019 with Audi, General Motors, Infiniti, Jaguar, Maserati, and MINI posting double-digit sales drops this year. Volvo, Genesis, Toyota, Lexus, Hyundai, Kia, Mitsubishi, and Porsche are the only automakers currently showing increases in sales as of November 2019.

Part of Nissan’s struggles could be an aging sport utility vehicle portfolio. The Nissan Rogue and Pathfinder who compete in the important compact and mid-size SUV segments respectively haven’t been redesigned significantly in over three years. New generations of each are expected in 2020.