Nissan to Close Civac Pickup Plant in Mexico by March 2026

According to Reuters, on July 30, Japanese automaker Nissan announced that as part of its global restructuring plan, it will close its Civac pickup plant in Mexico by March 2026. In a statement, Nissan confirmed that it will consolidate vehicle production from the Civac plant into its manufacturing base located in Aguascalientes, Mexico, within the current fiscal year. Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa emphasized that Mexico remains a strategic pillar for the company. "We made a difficult but necessary decision that will make us more efficient, competitive, and sustainable," he stated. The Civac plant began operations in 1966, marking Nissan's first expansion outside of Japan. The plant has produced over 6.5 million vehicles to date, including the Navara and the Latin American version of the Frontier pickup. Furthermore, Nissan expects to dissolve its joint venture with Mercedes-Benz, COMPAS, after ending the production of crossover models at its 2.37 million square feet Aguascalientes plant in early 2026. According to AutoForecast Solutions, Nissan will stop producing two Infiniti crossover models at the COMPAS plant by the end of 2025, while Mercedes-Benz will cease production of the GLB crossover in the first quarter of 2026. Earlier this month, Nissan revealed plans to halt vehicle production at two plants in Japan, including the closure of the Oppama plant by March 2028 and the Nissan Shatai subsidiary's Shonan plant by March 2027. Nissan has been pursuing a large-scale restructuring aimed at cutting costs, restoring profitability, and improving its performance in key markets such as the United States and China. This plan includes reducing global production capacity from 3.5 million to 2.5 million units and decreasing the number of manufacturing bases from 17 to 10. Nissan has indicated that its plants in Japan, India, and Argentina will be closed, and its facilities in Thailand and South Africa are also expected to shut down. Nissan plans to release its first-quarter financial report later on July 30.