Nissan Motor Company said today that it would cut Japanese production of large and luxury cars meant for export to the US as demand slows in the world's largest economy.
Japan's third largest car maker will reduce production of its Infinity brand luxury cars and its Murano and Rogue sports utility vehicles by a total of 65,000 units between November and March.
The cuts would reduce Nissan's total output in Japan by 4.7% from the 1.388 million vehicles it initially planned to produce in the year through March.
'The decline is due to dwindling sales in the US, especially of large-sized and luxury cars,' a Nissan spokeswoman said.
Nissan is also considering cutting jobs for some of its 2,000 temporary workers at the plants, she said. Japanese car makers have enjoyed brisk profits in the giant US car market in recent years, helped by firm demand for fuel-efficient cars and a weak yen.
But their earnings prospects are being reduced by a slowdown in the US, which has been hit by financial crisis, a weaker dollar and high raw material costs.
Earlier this month, Japan's top car maker Toyota reported a 29.5% drop in September sales in the US.
Japan's number two car maker Honda is also planning to reduce production in the US of large-sized cars by 22,000 vehicles between November and March, Japanese media reports.
