Nissan is pulling out of Korea, the Japanese carmaker said Thursday.
The carmaker in a statement said it will stop selling its cars including the luxury brand Infiniti in Korea as of the end of this year as part of "strategic global reforms" and is a "final decision reached by headquarters."
Nissan was hit hard by a boycott by Korean consumers on Japanese products last year, and the coronavirus epidemic made the situation worse. Nissan's sales here in the first four months of this year plunged 41 percent on-year to just 813 cars.
Infiniti sales plummeted 79 percent to 159 cars.
Nissan Korea suffered around W37 billion in losses every year since 2018 and fell into a state of capital impairment. It also announced the closure of factories in Indonesia and Spain.
The withdrawal will lead to 40 jobs being lost at the main office plus 200 sales jobs. A Nissan Korea staffer said, "We are coming up with early-retirement packages for our 40 employees and will hold negotiations to decide on compensation for dealers."
The automaker promised to provide repairs and other services to existing drivers until 2028.
