Nissan to Cut Japan, Europe Output on Soft Demand

Nissan Motor said on Tuesday it would cut production in Japan, Britain and Spain in response to falling demand around the world as fears of a global economic slowdown prompt consumers to hold off on car purchases.

Japan's No.3 automaker, in which Renault holds a 44 percent stake, will slash production by a total 65,000 vehicles at its Kyushu and Tochigi plants in Japan from November to March, it said. It had already reduced production by 10,000 vehicles in Tochigi from September.

Nissan had planned total domestic production of 1.39 million vehicles for the business year to next March.

The global slowdown in car sales has spared few automakers, with rivals also closing or slowing factory lines across many regions.

Nissan's Tochigi plant, north of Tokyo, makes 95 percent of Infiniti luxury brand models exported to North America, while the Kyushu plant in southern Japan makes sports utility vehicles such as the Murano.

"We will implement a production cut in response to sales conditions in North America," a Nissan spokeswoman said.

Nissan's sales in the United States plunged 34 percent in September from a year earlier to 59,565 vehicles.

Nissan also said overnight that it would halt production at its main European plant in Sunderland, northeast England, for two weeks and shorten working days for three weeks between late October and November due to a slide in sales of the small Micra and Note models.

At its Barcelona plant, where it said last week it would axe 1,680 jobs, Nissan will stop production for one week and shorten hours for eight weeks to whittle down output of the Pathfinder, Navara 4X4s and Primastar van.

The company declined to say whether it plans to revise its global production target at the announcement of earnings results for the April-September first half on Oct. 31.

Executive Vice President Carlos Tavares told Reuters earlier this month that Nissan was still on track to meet its sales target of 3.9 million vehicles this year. Nissan's global sales were up 5 percent in the first half, against an annual growth target of 3.5 percent.

Nissan shares ended the morning session up 2.9 percent at 542 yen, underperforming the transport sector subindex's 4.4 percent gain.

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