Nissan to move HQ out of Tokyo in 2010

TOKYO, June 24, 2004; Reuters reported that Nissan Motor Co, Japan's second-largest auto maker, said on Thursday that it would spend 45 billion yen ($415 million) to build a new headquarters in Yokohama, a port city south of Tokyo, by 2010.

Nissan, which posted record operating profits last year, declined to disclose how much it would save by relocating to Yokohama, 30 minutes from Tokyo by train, but said the municipal government had pledged tax breaks.

"Moving our global and domestic operations ... will allow us to work more efficiently and cross-functionally," Carlos Ghosn, president and chief executive of Nissan, said in a statement.

The auto maker plans to transfer at least 2,000 of the 3,000 employees based in Ginza, Tokyo, the current headquarters, to the new building, which will be completed in 2010.

Construction will begin in 2007.