Nissan Offers Buyouts at Two Tennessee Plants

Nissan North America said it will offer hourly production and maintenance workers at two plants in Tennessee buyouts that include a $45,000 lump sum payment.

The North American unit of Japanese automaker Nissan Motor said it will offer the buyouts to workers in Smyrna and Decherd, Tennessee. The program will also include $500 for each year of service.

"Higher demand for passenger cars, such as the Altima sedan and soon-to-be-released Altima Coupe, combined with lower demand for trucks and SUVs results in a manufacturing mix that is less labor-intensive to build and that requires fewer assembly workers," the automaker said in a statement.

Dan Gaudette, senior vice president of manufacturing and supply chain management, said he expects about 300 workers to accept the buyout offers.

Nissan employs 5,200 hourly employees at its assembly plant in Smyrna and 1,000 hourly workers at its powertrain assembly plant in Decherd.

The voluntary program allows employees until March 13 to decide whether they want to accept, and up to June 30 to retire or resign.