First General Motors, then Ford, and DaimlerChrysler followed suit. Now, it is the turn of Japanese vehicle manufacturer, Nissan to slash jobs in the US.
It seems that news for the US automotive industry is just not getting any better. Nissan is offering buyouts for its hourly and maintenance technicians who work at its manufacturing plants situated in Smyrna and Decherd, Tennessee. Each of the 300 workers will be offered a buyout package worth at least US$45,000 as well as an additional buyout of US$500 for each year of service and signifies what could well be the beginning of a climbdown even for Asian manufacturers in the stagnant US market.
Japan and US are key markets for Nissan and most of its sales come from these two countries. But the US market has been bogged down recently with consumers reluctant to buy fuel-guzzling vehicles in the wake of a surge in gasoline prices. Nissan, once considered the closest rival to Toyota, stated that it would miss its full-year forecast by 12%, and the cutbacks mean that the company is just not selling as many cars as it had hoped.
The Smyrna plant, which employs 5200 workers, builds the Frontier, Xterra and Pathfinder SUVs apart from the Altima and Maxima sedans. Another 1,000 workers are employed at the engine plant in Decherd. The buyouts are voluntary and employees have time till March 13th to decide if they want to opt for it, and if they do so, they would have to quit by June 30th.
Via: Bloomberg Auto Insider
