Nissan’s regional restructuring
Nissan to close CIVAC Plant in Mexico, consolidating production at Aguascalientes
Vehicle production from the plant in Cuernavaca, close to Mexico City, will be consolidated at Aguascalientes by March 2026 as Nissan targets leaner, more efficient operations and logistics globally.
As part of a global restructuring under its “Re:Nissan recovery plan”, Nissan has confirmed it will close its CIVAC Plant in Cuernavaca, Morelos, by the end of fiscal year 2025. Production will be fully transferred to the Aguascalientes facility, consolidating manufacturing operations in a move aimed at increasing efficiency, optimising logistics and reducing structural costs.
The decision supports key targets outlined in the Re:Nissan plan, including reducing global production capacity from 3.5m to 2.5m units (excluding China), improving plant utilisation rates toward 100%, and consolidating Nissan’s manufacturing footprint from 17 to 10 facilities worldwide by fiscal year 2027.
“Today, we have made the difficult but necessary decision, that will allow us to become more efficient, more competitive and more sustainable,” said Ivan Espinosa, CEO of Nissan Motor Corporation.
Operational shift
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The CIVAC Plant, which accounted for 11% of Nissan’s total production in Mexico, had been in continuous operation for over fifty years and is the carmaker's oldest plant outside Japan. Since 2019 the plant produced more than six million vehicles, including current models such as the NP300, Versa, and Frontier and Navara pickups.
The plant's Line 1 had closed but reopened in 2023 to provide additional production capacity.
As production moves from the CIVAC Plant to Aguascalientes, supply chain and logistics operations will also be adjusted. Consolidating production at a single site is expected to streamline inbound routes of equipment and components, optimise logistics routes and lead to further changes in finished vehicle distribution. The move may lead to greater economies of scale and more efficient transport. Increased output at the Aguascalientes facility will also require updated supply chain planning to support the higher production volume.
According to the official statement from the automaker, logistics efficiency was a key factor for the consolidation decision, alongside manufacturing optimisation and economies of scale.
Strategic resilience across the Americas
The plant closure and production shift also reflect Nissan’s emphasis on strategic resilience in the Americas, a region prioritised under the company’s "Full Speed Ahead" supply chain strategy.
Speaking at the Nissan Supply Chain Logistics Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, earlier this year, Chris Styles, regional vice-president of supply chain management (SCM) at Nissan Group of the Americas, explained that these efforts are focused on “rightsizing” its manufacturing footprint and identifying where optimisation can be increased across the supply chain.
Similarly, Gerardo de la Torre, regional senior director of SCM, outlined the group’s realignment efforts are being guided by a four-pillar approach: skill development, shared visibility, enhanced digitalisation and agile network design.
“The goal is to do it right and in the right time – to anticipate, react with information and stay ahead together as one team,” he told Automotive Logistics. “We have to be humble, agile, resilient and bring all the digitalisation and innovation tools to enable the Americas resilience.”
Production of the Frontier and Navara pickups had already been consolidated at the CIVAC Plant from Cordoba, Argentina, which Nissan confirmed would close by January 2026 — a shift that already required significant inbound and outbound logistics recalibration. It is now likely that Nissan will undergo similar network optimisation as it shifts production once again to Aguascalientes.
Navigating regional complexity
This move also comes amid a more complex trade and regulatory environment in North America. Nissan’s renewed focus on agility and consolidation aligns with broader efforts to strength its cross-border operations, particularly as the USMCA trade agreement comes under review in 2026 and new tariffs on Mexican-built vehicles add uncertainty to the regional landscape.
While Nissan has not disclosed specific employment figures tied to the closure, the move aligns with its global workforce reduction target of 20,000 roles by fiscal year 2027, part of a broader initiative to reshape SG&A, R&D and manufacturing operations under the Re:Nissan framework.
Industry reports earlier in July have also speculated that Nissan would also shutter its Compas plant in Aguascalientes, a joint venture with Mercedes-Benz that produces Infiniti and Mercedes-Benz models. However, neither carmaker has officially confirmed plans.
Along with the closures in Argentina and Mexico, Nissan has also recently confirmed that it would shuttered its factory in Oppama, Japan by the close of fiscal year 2027, and consolidate output in Kyushu in Fukuoka Prefecture, where it has also cancelled earlier plans to build a battery factory. It has also confirmed that it would close a factory in Wuhan, China amid a slump in its Chinese vehicle sales.
