Nissan responds with an emergency plan to its ongoing financial difficulties. The third-largest Japanese automaker announced it will reduce global production capacity by 20 percent and save costs amounting to 400 billion yen (2.6 billion dollars). As a result of the plan, 9,000 jobs will be cut worldwide. Additionally, CEO Makoto Uchida is voluntarily waiving half of his salary.

The crisis at Nissan reflects the challenges currently facing the automotive industry. In the past quarter, Nissan reported a net loss of 9.3 billion yen, while sales fell by 5 percent to 2.99 trillion yen. For the full year, Nissan lowered its production forecast to 3.2 million vehicles and revised its profit forecast down by 70 percent to 150 billion yen.

The main cause of the difficulties is the sluggish growth in the area of electrified vehicles, which Nissan has neglected compared to competitors like Toyota and Honda. "We did not respond in time to the success of hybrid vehicles and plug-in hybrids," Uchida admitted.

In a further step, Nissan reduced its stake in partner Mitsubishi Motors from 34 to 24 percent to strengthen the balance sheet. Additionally, Nissan is increasingly focusing on a cooperation with Honda to jointly develop a competitive electric vehicle and catch up on technological advancements with strong Chinese competitors.

As part of the restructuring, Nissan will introduce the position of Chief Performance Officer in December, who will be responsible for sales and profitability.