Earlier, we reported that Nissan will be closing its manufacturing plant in Thailand effective April 1, 2025, according to CEO Makoto Uchida. This comes after the beleaguered carmaker announced that its planned merger with Honda will not be pushing through, for reasons explained here.
Our market would have been drastically affected by the plant shutdown given that two of Nissan’s strongest sellers here—the Navara and the Terra—are sourced from Thailand. But Nissan has now issued a statement clarifying the fate of the facility.
“As part of Nissan's global turnaround measures and ongoing business transformation in ASEAN and Thailand, Nissan is consolidating part of vehicle production in Thailand’s Plant #1 to Plant #2 and upgrading the lines starting from Q1 FY2025,” the statement reads. “This effort aims to optimize fixed costs as well as prepare for future model localization in Thailand.”
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So it’s a consolidation, not a complete shutdown. A Nissan Philippines representative also confirmed to us that all the models we source from Thailand—the Almera and the Kicks, apart from the Navara and the Terra—will remain in production at the facility, so we will continue to get these nameplates.
“We don’t see it affecting supply; maybe some delays while consolidating,” our source said when asked if the scaled-down operations will result in a smaller production capacity.
Plant #1 and Plant #2 are both located in Bang Sao Thong in the Samut Prakan province. The statement also reveals plans for the facility: “Plant line #1 will be closed for vehicle assembly and the facility will be used for body and press shops and operations logistics.
“Thailand will remain a key market for Nissan in Southeast Asia, and the company [will] continue its commitment to grow its business and brand in ASEAN and Thailand markets.”
