Japanese automakers cut jobs as US sales tumble

TOKYO: Nissan Motor Co said on Thursday it was cutting 780 jobs and a Toyota subsidiary said it was also considering layoffs as part of efforts to cope with a shrinking US market.

Nissan, Japan's third-largest automaker, will not be renewing contracts for about 40 percent of its 2,000 contract workers at its domestic plants, a company spokeswoman said.

Hino Motors Ltd., an affiliate of Toyota Motor Corp., separately said it was reviewing the number of workers at its Hamura plant in Tokyo after production there nearly halved.

"We have to adjust the payroll in accordance with production," a company spokesman said, adding that it hoped to minimise the number of layoffs by relocating workers.

The plant, which produces sports utility vehicles for export to the United States, reduced its production to 200 vehicles a day in October from 380 in September. The plant employs 850 temporary and 2,150 regular workers.

Japanese companies have been hit hard by the global economic slowdown and the recent sharp appreciation of the yen, which makes their exports less competitive and reduces repatriated earnings.