Nissan Motor plans to slash its global output

TOKYO: Japan's Nissan Motor Compnay plans to slash its global output in the first half of fiscal 2009 by around 27 per cent from a year earlier to 1.29 million units as it expects the slump in demand for cars to continue, company officials said today.

To achieve the output cut, Nissan will cut domestic production in the April-September period by around 32 per cent to about 440,000 units, increasing the likelihood that the automaker's annual production in Japan could fall short of 1 million units.

It is unusual for a Japanese automaker to unveil a production plan for only six months, rather than a full year.

''There is still uncertainty over how auto sales will fare in North America amid slumping sales there,'' a senior Nissan official said.

Nissan has notified its auto parts manufacturers of the half-year production plan, the officials said.