Nissan to slash 20,000 jobs, foresees annual loss

TOKYO -- Nissan is slashing 20,000 jobs, or 8.5 percent of its global work force, to cope with what Japan's third-largest automaker expects will be its first annual loss in nine years.

It was unclear this morning how Nissan's operations in Middle Tennessee would be affected. Nissan has its North American headquarters in Franklin and an assembly plant in Smyrna, which has been operating on four-day work weeks in response to poor market conditions. Nissan spokesman Steve Parrett could not be reached for comment this morning.

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

Nissan Motor Co. now expects a 265 billion yen ($2.9 billion) net loss for the fiscal year through March -- joining a raft of other Japanese corporate giants, including Toyota, Toshiba and Sony, in slashing jobs and projecting annual losses.

The last time Nissan racked up an annual net loss was for the fiscal year ended March 2000, at the start of its alliance with Renault SA of France, which sent in Ghosn to rescue Nissan from the brink of collapse. Then, a bloated Nissan had lost money in seven of the previous eight years.