Nissan’s regional restructuring
Nissan and Mercedes to close joint COMPAS plant in Mexico in May 2026
The Cooperation Manufacturing Plant Aguascalientes (COMPAS), a joint venture between Nissan and Mercedes-Benz, is to cease operations on 31 May 2026 in response to shifts in the automotive market.
Reports have cited a letter to suppliers, in which executives claimed that this decision was made "due to changes in the dynamics of the automotive market and consumer preferences".
“COMPAS reaffirms its full financial strength and payment capacity, which allows us to guarantee ordinary operations as previously agreed," the company confirmed in a statement. "All our contractual commitments will be fulfilled on time and in accordance with current commercial agreements,”
Production of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance's Infiniti QX50 and QX55 models will reportedly wrap up in November 2025, while production of Daimler's Mercedes-Benz GLB and A-Class models will conclude in May 2026.
The joint venture between Daimler and what was then the Renault-Nissan Alliance (now the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance) was announced in 2015 and the COMPAS site began operations in November 2017.
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The news of COMPAS' planned closure follows the announcement in July this year that Nissan would close its plant in Cuernavaca, close to Mexico City, by the end of fiscal year 2025. Production of the Nissan Frontier model at this plant, Nissan's first factory outside of Japan, was consolidated to Nissan's plant in Aguascalientes. Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa said the "difficult but necessary decision" would allow the company to be "more efficient, more competitive and more sustainable".
Aside from the COMPAS plant, Nissan has two vehicles assembly plants and a powertrain plant in Aguascalientes.
Despite the news of these plant closures in Mexico, Nissan has bold plants for the region. On November 7, Nissan announced its goal of ensuring one in every six Nissan vehicles sold around the world is manufactured in Latin America. Nissan Latin America reported sales of more than 206,300 units in the first fiscal half of 2025 (April to September).
"We have a clear goal: half a million units sold in Latin America," said Guy Rodríguez, president of Nissan Latin America. "Together with our talents, business partners, more than 760 sales and service points, and suppliers, we are going to ensure that one out of every six Nissan vehicles sold in the world comes from our region."
Nissan made the decision in 2023 to restructure its business in the Americas, splitting Nissan Americas into two independent organisations: Nissan North America and Nissan Latin America. "This second year as [Nissan] Latin America brought challenges, but also great opportunities," Rodríguez shared.
The automaker said it has made progress in infrastructure and commercial coverage in Latin America this year, inaugurating 25 new points of sale and service and remodelling a further 89 – taking its total number of service points in the region to 764.
