Thousands of workers at Nissan’s plant in Sunderland, UK, are facing uncertainty after the Japanese car giant announced plans to scale back production and axe 9,000 jobs globally, reports The Telegraph (paywall). The company warned it was facing “a severe situation” after reducing its annual forecast for operating profits from JPY 500 billion to just JPY 150 billion (USD 3.24 billion to USD 973.4 million). Nissan said it would not pay a dividend and was instead prioritising financial discipline to “create a leaner, more resilient business capable of swiftly adapting to changes in the market”.

This will involve reducing production by 20% and removing 9,000 workers, equivalent to about 7% of the company’s 133,000-strong operations, it said. Makoto Uchida, Nissan’s chief executive, is also voluntarily giving up half of his monthly pay from this month onwards.

Nissan currently employs around 6,000 people in the UK, where it makes the Qashqai and Juke SUVs, as well as the electric Leaf. It was not immediately clear what impact the cuts would have on the company’s UK business.

Uchida said, “These turnaround measures do not imply that the company is shrinking. Nissan will restructure its business to become leaner and more resilient while also reorganising management to respond quickly and flexibly to changes in the business environment.”