Honda will cut pay to managers

Honda Motor Co. said Monday that managers’ salaries would be slashed 5% starting next month to cope with sliding sales. The cut comes on top of the 10% pay reduction for directors announced last month.

The move affects about 4,800 managers at Honda group companies in Japan, but not those hired by Honda’s overseas units, the company said. The reduction continues through May, and what happens after that is still undecided, it said.

Japan’s No. 2 automaker has been battered by the plunge in demand in major auto markets including the U.S. The rising yen also hurts Japanese exporters by reducing their overseas earnings.

Last week, Honda slashed its profit forecast for the fiscal year ending in March by 57% to 80 billion yen ($890 million) from an earlier expectation of 185 billion yen ($2 billion).

The latest projection marks an 87% slide from the 600 billion yen earned the previous year.