Nissan Cuts Production of Its Best-Selling Vehicle

• Nissan will cut production of the Rogue and Frontier.
• It could build up to 40,000 fewer cars through the end of October.
• Nissan has struggled with bloated inventories this year.
  

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Nissan has told its dealers that it will cut production of the Rogue and Frontier by up to 40,000 units in September and October. It’s a move by the company to reduce inventories and oversupply as dealers struggle to grow sales and turn a profit even though the Rogue is the brand’s best-selling model.

Sales for the Rogue are down through the first six months of the year, falling 4.5 percent compared to the same time last year. Frontier sales are actually up 17.1 percent, but that hasn’t brought the supply down far enough for either for Nissan’s liking, which remain above the industry average and Nissan’s.  

According to the Automotive News report, Nissan informed suppliers late last month that it was reducing output at its Smyrna, Tennessee, and Canton, Mississippi, factories. It shifted Rogue production from five days a week to four, which will last until the end of October. Frontier production also lost a day, but it will last until March 31.

Things aren’t going well for Nissan right now. The automaker told its dealers in May to sell cars at loss to help reduce ballooning inventories as the company neared a 100-day supply of new vehicles. The move further hurt dealer profitability this year, but the effort appears to have worked, bringing the company’s inventories closer to those of its competitors, but it clearly hasn’t been enough.