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Roles to be cut mostly in sales and marketing

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Cuts formalised in October 16 agreement with CFDT union

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Nissan's ( NSANF ) European sales slipped 8% over first financial

half

By Daniel Leussink and Gilles Guillaume

TOKYO/PARIS, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Nissan ( NSANF ) will eliminate 87

positions at its European regional office in France, a company

document and internal emails showed, as part of CEO Ivan

Espinosa's global restructuring and turnaround plan that

includes a 15% cut in headcount.

The struggling Japanese automaker is working to streamline

operations and return to profitability as it grapples with

prolonged challenges in key markets such as Europe.

Espinosa's restructuring plan includes slashing Nissan

Motor's ( NSANF ) global production capacity by nearly 30% to 2.5

million vehicles and reducing manufacturing sites to 10 from 17.

Most of the roles slated for elimination at the European

office are in marketing and sales, according to the company

document. Of the 87 positions, 64 were filled when the agreement

was reached last month, it showed.

Nissan ( NSANF ) is also creating 34 new roles and opening additional

vacancies to support internal redeployment, meaning the final

number of redundancies will be lower.

The company employs about 570 people at its

Montigny-le-Bretonneux office, which oversees operations across

Europe, Africa, the Middle East, India and Oceania.

Nissan ( NSANF ) confirmed in a statement on Thursday that management

in Europe and employee representatives had reached an agreement

and that the company had announced changes to its organisation.

"This decision is driven by the need to reflect the reality

of today's business environment and to address specific

challenges at Nissan ( NSANF )," the company said.

The changes included simplification of roles and the removal

of some management layers, boosting efficiencies throughout its

organisation, it said.

The cuts were formalised in an October 16 agreement with

union representatives and will be implemented in phases,

beginning with a voluntary separation programme. If voluntary

exits fall short, forced redundancies could begin in early

February, according to the company document.

Loic Salomon, the CFDT union representative who signed the

agreement, did not respond to a request for comment. CFDT is

France's largest union.

In a town hall with staff on Wednesday, regional chairperson

Massimiliano Messina called for the need to make operations

faster and more agile.

"It's not just cutting the fat," Messina said. The Montigny

office must also build muscle to strengthen its role in the

region, he said, according to a person who attended the event.

Employees opting for internal transfers may receive a 5,000

euro ($5,830) gross bonus, while those choosing to seek a job

outside the company will be supported by an outplacement agency

and offered up to two years of redeployment leave depending on

age.

Nissan ( NSANF ) reported last week that its European retail sales

slipped 8% over the first half of the financial year. The

automaker also trimmed its full-year regional outlook by 3% to

340,000 vehicles, although it expects recovery through upcoming

launches and dealer programmes.

Nissan ( NSANF ) said it will maintain the Montigny office, which

Messina said was "absolutely vital" for the automaker's regional

business, and continue investing in employee development.

The automaker employs nearly 19,000 people across Europe,

Africa, the Middle East, India and Oceania, with close to 60%

based in Europe, according to an October 2024 diversity report.

The company document did not explain why the targeted

positions were selected.

($1 = 0.8575 euros)