Nissan Motor Co. said Thursday it has logged a group net loss of 671.22 billion yen ($6.2 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, the first full-year loss in 11 years, as the novel coronavirus pandemic piles more pressure on the struggling automaker.

The figure, including 603 billion yen as costs for restructuring measures and impairment losses, compares with a profit of 319.14 billion yen a year ago. The company withheld its earnings outlook for the current year, citing uncertainties posed by the virus.

Even before the pandemic dented consumer demand and led to suspended factory output, Nissan had been reeling from a crisis following the arrest and ouster of former boss Carlos Ghosn for alleged financial misconduct in 2018, causing sales in its mainstay U.S. market to fall.

In a change of direction, the automaker is departing from the aggressive expansionist strategy pursued by Ghosn that encouraged heavy spending on promotions and marketing to reach sales goals and is instead focusing on cost-cutting to boost profitability.

In the new medium-term strategic plan for the four years through March 2024, Nissan said it will reduce annual production capacity by 20 percent to 5.40 million vehicles.

It will also close its Indonesia plant and pursue talks to close its factory in Barcelona.

By taking such measures, it expects to see a 300 billion yen reduction in fixed costs in fiscal 2020 from fiscal 2018.

"We will admit our mistakes and correct ourselves to get on the right path," said Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida in an online press conference. "We will implement structural reforms by concentrating and selecting our resources."

==Kyodo

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