Nikkei: Nissan, Toyota cancelling battery plants stall Japan supply chain goals
12 May 2025
The Nikkei reports that Nissan Motor’s cancellation of its first electric vehicle battery plant in Japan, along with Toyota Motor’s postponement of a similar project, will damage Japan’s efforts to secure a domestic supply of batteries.
Nissan, after signing a partnership agreement with local authorities for the project in January, decided to scrap the project just a few months later due to weak earnings. Nissan expected to spend ¥153.3 billion ($1.06 billion) on the factory. Even with Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry set to provide up to ¥55.7 billion in subsidies, the automaker’s earnings downturn left it without the finances to handle that spending, prompting it to abandon the plan.
Japan’s METI set a goal of boosting Japan’s battery production capacity to 150 gigawatt-hours a year by 2030. It has approved subsidies for 30 or so projects, including production of parts and materials. With government support, Japan’s manufacturing base was on a path to reaching 120 GWh. The scrapping of Nissan's project will make that goal harder to achieve, the Nikkei report said.
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