Nissan Shares Plummet Amid Job Cuts

TOKYO (Reuters) – Shares in Nissan (OTC:NSANY) Motor slumped as much as 10% in Tokyo trading on Friday after the company announced it will cut 9,000 jobs and 20% of its global manufacturing capacity due to struggling sales in China and the United States.

The decline positioned the shares for their largest single-day drop since August, trading down 8.5% at about 375 yen, nearing their lowest level in four years.

Japan's third-biggest automaker decreased its annual outlook by 70% on Thursday and abandoned its net profit forecast amid ongoing restructuring efforts, anticipated to reduce costs by 400 billion yen ($2.61 billion) this financial year.

Like many foreign automakers, Nissan faces challenges in China, where competitors like BYD (SZ:002594) are swiftly gaining market share with affordable electric vehicles and hybrids featuring advanced software.

Nissan also confronts hurdles in the U.S. market, lacking a range of petrol-electric hybrid vehicles which are currently in high demand.

CEO Makoto Uchida expressed that Nissan had not anticipated the rapid rise of hybrid demand in the U.S.

($1 = 153.2000 yen)