What to do, a baseball team has been revived in a 760 billion deficit company...Nissan Motor restarts for the first time in 16 years
What to do, a baseball team has been revived in a 760 billion deficit company...Nissan Motor restarts for the first time in 16 years
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It took more than a year just to prepare. The general manager was appointed, and a new coach was invited. Since then, he has selected players one by one. He has carefully selected only promising players while traveling around the country. Twenty-two young people gathered. I carefully adjusted the ground, which had been vacant for a long time, here and there.
That's how he got started again. It has been a whopping 16 years. He announced to the world a ambitious new start. Nissan Motor Co., a social baseball team that disappeared into the background of its history, has come back to life.
It happened on the 17th. A uniform with the team's symbol, "Blue Bird," appears on the scene. The crowd's roaring applauds the baseball stadium. (The Blue Bird is also a best-selling model produced by Nissan Motor Company for more than 40 years.)
However, the company has only a brief moment of excitement. People around him are just worried. It is because of the situation at the parent company.
It was only a week ago. Nissan Motor Co. said it expects a deficit of 80 billion yen (about 760 billion won) in the 2024 fiscal year. Analysts say that it is the first time in 11 years that the company has posted a net loss based on its fourth-quarter earnings.
The subsequent unfavorable factors shook the stock market. Honda's merger with management, which was considered a breakthrough, fell through. If successful, it would instantly create the world's third-largest carmaker. However, the negotiations collapsed due to Honda's condition that it would incorporate Nissan as a subsidiary.
It is already sensitive to U.S. President Trump's tariff pressure. Nissan's stock price continues to decline. Concerns are also high within the group. Global production lines are expected to be reduced and further restructured. There is also a gloomy outlook that the survival period will not be long in the future.
In that situation, the baseball team started to play again.
Yuki Ito, 52, who took the helm of the team, looks full of emotions. He was a player when the team was disbanded 16 years ago.
"It is a revival of a team with a history. It is true that there is a lot of pressure on what to do from now on. But there is no anxiety. Players who can look forward to it have gathered. I believe their strong fighting spirit will energize the company."
Nissan Motor Company was founded in 1959. It has a history as good as any other professional team. It won the title twice at a national championship.
He has also produced quite a few famous professional players. Tetsuro Kawaziri, the pitcher who fractured Lee Jong-beom's elbow during the Chunichi Dragons, is from this place. He is a submarine that has won 60 games (72 losses) in total for the Hanshin Tigers and the Kintetsu Buffaloes (combined with Orix).
Orix pitcher Hidetaka Kawakoe (54-76), and Seibu Lions right-hander Ryoma Nogami (58-63) also had fine bones in this team. His team was also Hirofumi Sekine, who allowed Han Dae-hwa a three-run homer at the 1982 World Baseball Championship. 바카라
However, the 50-year-old tradition failed to beat the opposition parties. The company suffered the brunt of the Lehman crisis in 2009. As the parent company was shaken, the baseball team, the table tennis team, and the track and field team all had to close their doors. However, the announcement was made in the form of a "休" rather than a breakup.
It was two years ago that the revival of the baseball team was decided.
At that time, the situation of the parent company was not bad. After the exit of the former CEO (Carlos Ghosn), the performance turned positive. Sales and operating profit showed a clear recovery.
In the meantime, an announcement is made that stimulates nostalgia. The plan is to reinvigorate the cold ground. The hope is that the team will be formed again for a year, and the cheering section will be filled with cheers in the first half of 2025.
It was the resumption of official training on the 17th that such a dream came true. Twenty-two young prospects and many reporters gathered. However, they faced a sad wall again.
Director Ito does not deny the reality.
"I think the company is in a very difficult situation. The team is not as easy as it is. I don't know what it's like to expect good performance from the first year of our activities. There are so many strong teams in this area. But we are made up of young players. I think the possibilities are infinite."
He adds, looking at the players playing in breath.
"I myself am the one who experienced the pain of 16 years ago. It was similar back then. Now the big mission is to increase even one person who feels the value of the baseball team's existence. Look at them. Everyone knows the situation, but none of the 22 people want to quit. No one is despairing. Each one just hits hard and runs hard."