TOKYO (AP) — Troubled Japanese automaker Nissan said Thursday it was selling its headquarters building in Yokohama, southwest of Tokyo, for 97 billion yen ($630 million), as part of its revival efforts.
Nissan Motor Co. will lease the building and continue to use it as its headquarters, while recording 73.9 billion yen ($480 million) as gains from the sale to Tokyo-based real estate operator MJI Godo Kaisha, it said in a statement.
The funds will be used to modernize internal systems at its headquarters and accelerate digital modernization and the rollout of AI-driven systems, according to Nissan, which makes the March subcompact and Infiniti luxury models.
MJI Godo is a special purpose trust owned by the Minth Group, a major auto parts maker whose shares are listed in Hong Kong. The cost of the lease was not disclosed.
Also Thursday, Nissan reported a 221.9 billion yen ($1.4 billion) loss for the fiscal first half. It recorded a 19.2 billion yen profit during the same period a year ago. It did not give a full fiscal year net profit forecast.
Over the six months through September, Nissan's sales slipped nearly 7% to 5.58 trillion yen ($36 billion).
Nissan has been struggling to return to profitability, after posting a 670.9 billion yen ($4.4 billion) loss for the fiscal year through March.
It has promised a turnaround under new chief executive Ivan Espinosa, a Mexican with two decades of experience at Nissan who took the helm earlier this year.
Nissan’s first half global vehicle sales declined, especially in Japan. But it said vehicle sales were improving in China and the U.S., adding that new models were in the works and were expected to drive sales.
“Nissan is on track,” Espinosa told reporters after releasing the earnings results. “We remain focused on recovery.”
The move to sell the headquarters reflects reflects the company’s strategy to innovate, stay competitive and aggressively carry out research for future growth, Nissan said.
“This move reflects a disciplined approach to capital efficiency unlocking value from non-core assets to support transformation during the challenging years,” the company said of the sale.
Nissan has said it’s cutting 15% of its global work force, or about 20,000 employees. It’s also closing its flagship factory in Oppama, Japan. All the Japanese automakers are being hit by the impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs.
Nissan stocks, which have been slipping over the past year, dipped to 337 yen ($2.19) from 344 yen ($2.23) the previous day.
Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama
FILE - Nissan signage at Nissan headquarters in Yokohama, near Tokyo, on May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte, File)
This shows the headquarters building of Nissan Motor Co. in Yokohama, near Tokyo, on May 15, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)
LOUISA, Va. (AP) — Michael Shull never imagined that a Democrat from the wealthy suburbs of Washington would represent his community in Congress. His corner of Virginia, with its sprawling farms and winding country roads, has been electing Republicans for more than three decades.
Then came an unusual nationwide redistricting battle, with Democrats and Republicans redrawing congressional lines to boost their chances in November's midterm elections. Virginia could be next as voters consider a new map that would pair conservative rural areas with liberal suburbs, diluting Republicans' electoral clout.
“Politicians should be elected to be their people’s voice,” said Shull, a Republican member of Augusta County’s board of supervisors. “Not their party’s voice.”
The vote on the constitutional amendment is on April 21, and early balloting has begun. If voters pass the referendum and it survives a court challenge, Shull's area within the county would be split between the 7th and 9th Congressional Districts. While the 9th District would be the state's lone Republican stronghold, the 7th District would resemble a lobster with the long tail beginning in Democrat-dominated Arlington and two claws reaching south into rural communities.
Congressional districts are usually redrawn once a decade, but President Donald Trump started a chain reaction last year by encouraging Texas Republicans to devise a new map to help the party in November. After a cascade of redistricting efforts, Republicans believe they can win a combined nine more U.S. House seats in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio, while Democrats think they can win a total of six more seats in California and Utah. Virginia could give Democrats an extra four seats — enough to overturn the GOP's slim majority, at least as things stand now.
“It’s about making sure that we fight back to what Trump’s done,” said U.S. Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., He said the party needs to persuade voters that the referendum is "not about embracing gerrymandering.”
“I feel optimistic, but it’s close,” he said.
The referendum comes at a moment when Virginia Democrats have tried to make up ground in rural areas. Last year, Democrat Abigail Spanberger campaigned for governor in oyster towns and agrarian hamlets to engage with more conservative voters. Before that winning campaign, she had represented a congressional district that mixed city suburbs, exurbs and adjacent rural communities.
“Anyone who’s doing their job will be responsive to the communities that they seek to represent,” Spanberger said.
But her results were mixed. In counties where fewer people lived in rural areas, she outperformed Democrat Kamala Harris' Virginia showing in the 2024 presidential race by an average of 6 percentage points or 7 percentage points. In more rural counties, Spanberger gained about 2 percentage points to 4 percentage points.
Democrat Anthony Flaccavento, former congressional candidate and co-founder of the nonprofit Rural Urban Bridge Initiative, is torn over the referendum.
“At some level, it feels like kicking the can down the road -– which is something that my party has done for a long time –- when it comes to winning back rural and working-class voters,” Flaccavento said.
Democrats in rural areas who are tired of being outnumbered by their Republican neighbors are embracing the redistricting plan.
“Fight Back, Vote Yes,” said a sign at a No Kings protest in Louisa County. A second said, “Vote Yes. Stop ICE. No Kings.”
State Del. Dan Helmer, who helped spearhead the redistricting effort, greeted protesters and spoke to the cheering crowd. Helmer is now one of at least four Democrats running in the 7th District.
Helmer said Republicans “think that in red areas like Louisa and in rural areas, that people don’t know what’s going on. But I’m looking around right now, I see strong, proud patriots who know exactly what is going on, who know that we have an aspiring dictator who is trying to take away our democracy.”
Jennifer Lee, who has lived in Louisa for 33 years, said she was eager to support the new district lines. Lee said she felt Republicans were perpetuating a double standard, falsely claiming the 2020 presidential election won by Democrat Joe Biden was stolen from Trump but accepting his push to eliminate Democratic seats through gerrymandering.
“That’s their slogan, right? ‘Stop the steal,’” Lee said. “But they started ‘the steal.’ They’re stealing the seats now in all these districts.”
At a town hall hosted by Democrats at a rural Goochland County recreation center, voters nibbled on finger foods and passed around bottled water as they debated whether redistricting violated some kind of moral code.
“I’m sorry, morality just goes out the door right now. We have to do what it takes for us to survive,” said Bruce Silverman, a local nephrologist. He was voting “yes.”
At one point, Roberta Thacker-Oliver stood up to talk. She votes in the rural 9th District, which would become even more Republican with the new map.
“In the redistricting, the 9th is going to become bigger and redder,” she said, adding, “I need to know what to tell my community about why they need to take one for the team."
“What do we tell them?” she said.
Associated Press writers Maya Sweedler, Ashlyn Still and Joey Cappelletti in Washington contributed to this report.
Goochland Democratic Committee member Richard Grebe stick an "I Voted" sticker on his shirt during a lunch meeting on future get-out-the-vote efforts for the Virginia redistricting referendum, Thursday, April 2, 2026, at GG's Pizza in Maiden, Va. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Fliers lay on a table as members of the Goochland Democratic Committee Jen Strozier, Doug Mock, Chris Svoboda, Richard Grebe and Judi Sheppard hold a lunch meeting on future get-out-the-vote efforts for the Virginia redistricting referendum, Thursday, April 2, 2026, at GG's Pizza in Maiden, Va. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Members of the Goochland Democratic Committee Jen Strozier, Doug Mock, Chris Svoboda, Richard Grebe and Judi Sheppard hold a lunch meeting on future get-out-the-vote efforts for the Virginia redistricting referendum, Thursday, April 2, 2026, at GG's Pizza in Maiden, Va. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
A print edition of the Goochland Gazette, with a front page story on the Virginia redistricting referendum, lies on a table at GG's Pizza as members of the Goochland Democratic Committee Jen Strozier, Doug Mock, Chris Svoboda, Richard Grebe and Judi Sheppard hold a lunch meeting on future get-out-the-vote efforts, Thursday, April 2, 2026, in Maiden, Va. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Signs in support of the Virginia redistricting referendum are seen as Jen Strozier and Doug Mock, members of the Goochland Democratic Committee, order lunch at GG's Pizza, Thursday, April 2, 2026, in Maiden, Va. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
