The selloff comes as Nissan pursues sweeping cost cuts, including job reductions, plant closures, and a potential $610 million sale of its Yokohama headquarters to ease mounting debt.
Nissan Motor shares tumbled as much as 6.8% in early Tuesday trading in Tokyo, their steepest intraday fall since April, after Mercedes-Benz Pension Trust said it would sell its entire 3.8% stake in the struggling Japanese automaker.
The trust plans to offload about 140 million shares, fully exiting its investment, Bloomberg reported, citing a term sheet. The term sheet stated that the sale would not impact ongoing collaboration between Mercedes-Benz and Nissan.
The selloff comes as Nissan pursues sweeping restructuring measures to address its worst financial position in more than two decades. In May, Chief Executive Officer Ivan Espinosa announced plans to cut 20,000 jobs and reduce the number of global manufacturing sites from 17 to 10.
As part of its “Re:Nissan” recovery plan, the company is reportedly weighing the sale of its Yokohama global headquarters to KKR & Co. for about 90 billion yen ($610 million) in a deal that would include a 10-year lease-back arrangement.
Nissan has forecast 180 billion yen in operating losses for April–September and faces $5.6 billion in debt due next year. It has already raised $4.5 billion through overseas bond sales but continues to carry junk credit ratings.
Once an EV pioneer, the automaker has fallen behind its global rivals, delaying the launch of two U.S.-bound electric SUVs until at least 2028 and suspending vehicle shipments to Canada following the introduction of new tariffs.
Further cuts are planned, including the closure of its CIVAC plant in Mexico by March 2026, the winding down of the Nissan-Shatai Shonan plant by 2027, and the halting of production at the Oppama factory in Japan by 2028.
In Europe, Nissan has also opened talks with unions over potential job cuts at its Montigny-le-Bretonneux headquarters.
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for Nissan was ‘extremely bullish’ amid ‘extremely high’ message volume.
Nissan’s U.S.-listed stock has declined 21.4% so far in 2025.
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