Nissan to Cut Down Jobs In Japan

Anthony Fontanelle
April 27, 2007

In the United States, the Big Three are experiencing financial problems due to reduced sales as Japanese brands had increased their stake in the U.S. auto market. These problems have resulted to a massive workforce reduction. Ford, General Motors and Chrysler also closed down plants and reduced working hours and production to recover from losses that they suffered.

But the U.S.’ Big Three are not the only car companies which have announced that they will be cutting down jobs. Nissan, the third largest Japanese car company, has recently announced that they will be implementing a voluntary retirement program which will reduce their workforce by as much as 1,500 blue and white collar jobs.

The said program will commence in June this year. It will be available for workers aged 45 years old or older and holding non-managerial positions. The said program is the effect of declining domestic sales for Nissan. In Japan, the sale of non-mini vehicles is experiencing a sharp decline as the demand decreases and the competition grows stronger.

Aside from the retirement program, Nissan will also be reducing their production in two of their assembly plants in Japan. This announcement came after the Japanese company announced that they will be opening new plants in Japan to meet the demand in the United States. Last September, the woes being faced by Nissan led to the closing down of one of the three lines at one of their facility in Southern Japan. In the United States, Nissan also resorted to offering early retirement program to recover from the losses it has incurred the past year.

Last year, Nissan suffered terrible losses and especially during the last quarter of 2006. During that period, the Japanese brand posted 22 percent reduction in terms of sales compared to 2005. It is only in recent months that Nissan appeared to be gaining popularity once again among American car buyers as their sales figure has been increasing month after month. This improvement on their sales in the United States may be the result of the turnaround plan being implemented by Nissan.

Currently, under the restructuring plan, Nissan aims to sell 4.2 million vehicles all over the world until the year 2009. If Nissan’s sales performance for the first months of 2007 is an indication of what’s in store for them, the success may act as efficient EBC Greenstuff brake pads are in arresting Nissan’s downward slide.

One of the reasons for the declining Nissan sales in the United States and in Japan is the scarcity of models. This means that consumers have fewer choices with Nissan unlike Honda and Toyota which offers a wide range of exciting vehicles. In the United States, Nissan’s inability to provide hybrid vehicles has hurt them and let Honda and Toyota leave them behind. To turn their fate around, Nissan announced that they will be offering a diesel powered Nissan vehicle in the year 2010. Nissan has also offered a Nissan Altima Hybrid for the 2007 model year.

Source:  Amazines.com