Mercedes-Benz exits Nissan stake in $325m sale, piling pressure on Japanese carmaker

Mercedes-Benz has sold its entire stake in Nissan Motor for about $325 million, a move that rattled investors and pushed Nissan shares down more than 6% on Tuesday.

The German automaker’s pension trust sold the 3.8% holding for 47.83 billion yen ($324.65 million), according to a source with direct knowledge of the deal. The sale price was 341.3 yen per share, a nearly 6% discount from Nissan’s closing price on Monday.

The exit sent Nissan shares into their sharpest one-day fall since July, highlighting investor doubts about the company’s fragile turnaround. The Japanese automaker has been battling sliding sales in the U.S. and China, rising tariffs, and heavy losses. Nissan reported a $535 million loss for the April-June quarter, underscoring the scale of its struggles.

“This is a portfolio clean-up, not a strategic move,” a Mercedes-Benz spokesperson said earlier this week. The shares had been held in its pension assets since 2016, but the automaker stressed they were “not of strategic importance.”

Demand for the shares was strong despite the discount. About 70% went to the top ten investors, the source said, noting the information was confidential.

For Nissan, the sale adds to pressure as it works to restore profitability. Chief Executive Ivan Espinosa, who took charge in April, has launched a turnaround plan that includes cutting global production capacity from 3.5 million to 2.5 million vehicles by 2027 and reducing manufacturing sites from 17 to 10.

“We are still in the early stages of recovery, but we are making progress on cost cuts,” Espinosa said last month.

Nissan’s long-time partner Renault, which owns 35.7% of the company, has also felt the pain. The French automaker booked an $11 billion writedown on its Nissan stake last month.

The Japanese automaker has struggled to recover since the dramatic fall of former boss Carlos Ghosn, the architect of the Renault-Nissan alliance. Ghosn fled Japan in 2019 after being charged with financial misconduct, allegations he denies.

Analysts say Mercedes’ exit, though not unexpected, deepens the urgency for Nissan to deliver results.

Read more on Nissan spends $1.9m to build UK’s first electric truck charging depot