Nissan has announced that it will cut production in part because of supply issues but also in a bid to reduce the number of vehicles sitting unsold on dealership lots across the country.
The carmaker first cut production by 1,178 units in December and through the first quarter of this year, will trim production by an extra 6%, accounting for approximately 10,200 vehicles. The Rogue will be hardest hit by the production cut, making up more than 50% of the planned reduction in output and due in part to parts shortages impacting select trims.
Auto News reports that Nissan will also reduce production of the Pathfinder and Frontier through the first quarter of the year. The marque believes these cuts will contribute to a 1.7% decline in U.S. production during the 2024 fiscal year compared to the current fiscal year ending March 31.
Data from Cox Automotive reveals that Nissan had 106 days’ worth of vehicles en route to dealers at the end of 2023, significantly more than the industry average of 70 days. Indeed, Nissan had the highest inventory of any full-line brand at the end of December.
Read: Nissan Threatens To Move Rogue Production Out Of The U.S. If Suppliers Don’t Slash Prices
Nissan had increased production of the Rogue by approximately 40% last year compared to 2022 and managed to sell 271,458 units across the U.S., a 46% increase over the previous year. However, the average time to sell Rogue inventory took 55 days in 2023, more than double the previous year.
According to Nissan spokesperson Brian Brockman, the company adjusts production “when necessary to maintain healthy inventory levels while meeting demand in the market,” but dealers say production cuts like these do not help their profitability. Almost one-third of all Nissan dealers operated in the red late last year, Auto News reports, and dealers want to sell more cars, not less.
