(Yicai) June 24 -- In response to a recent news report, Dongfeng Nissan said its plant in Changzhou in China’s Jiangsu province has suspended production for a capacity adjustment as the carmaker shifts to new energy models.

Due to changes in the business environment and the company’s overall strategy, Dongfeng Nissan will increase its focus on new energy vehicles while maintaining output of fuel-powered cars, Yicai learned from the 50-50 JV of Dongfeng Motor Group and Japanese auto giant Nissan. 

Nikkei Asia reported on June 21 that Yokohama-based Nissan was shutting down its Changzhou plant in an effort to trim overcapacity amid a sales slump in China. 

The plant mainly turned out Qashqai sports utility vehicles, with an annual capacity of 130,000 units, accounting for more than 8 percent of Nissan’s total production capacity in China, the report said.

Nissan’s sales in the Chinese market fell 2.8 percent from a year earlier to 64,233 last month. It sold 286,445 vehicles in China in the first five months of the year, a 1 percent year-on-year decline, according to its most recent figures.

Since its inception in 2003, Dongfeng Nissan has been making cars under three brands in China: Nissan, Venucia, and Infiniti. It has opened factories in the provinces of Guangdong, Hubei, Henan, Liaoning, and Jiangsu, with annual production capacity of 1.6 million units. 

Editors: Dou Shicong, Tom Litting