Nissan to slash 20,000 jobs

Nissan Motor Co sank into a loss for the fiscal third quarter and forecast its first full-year loss in nearly a decade on Monday, forcing Japan’s third-biggest automaker to slash 20,000 jobs, or 8.5% of its global work force.

“The global auto industry is in turmoil, and Nissan is no exception,” Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn told reporters in Tokyo.

Nissan now expects a 265 billion yen net loss for the fiscal year through March—the first time in nine years it’s tumbling into an annual loss.

The maker of the Z sports car and the March compact reported a net loss of 83.2 billion yen for the October-December period, a reversal from the 132.2 billion yen profit it earned the same period the previous year. That was its first quarterly net loss since it began reporting quarterly earnings in 2003.

Like other Japanese automakers, Nissan has been battered by the global slump and the U.S. credit crunch, which has undermined sales in its vital North American market. A strong yen also ate into profits by eroding overseas earnings when converted back to yen.

As one key step in response to the dismal results, Ghosn said Nissan’s global work force will be reduced by 20,000 through March 2010, to 215,000 from 235,000.

Directors on the board will forego bonus pay for the year ending March. Their salaries, as well as the salaries of corporate officers, will be reduced by 10%, while managers’ salaries will be reduced by 5%, the company said.