Nissan says more U.S. workers than expected take buyout offers
Nissan North America Inc. said Friday that 775 workers at its vehicle and engine plants in Tennessee -- 12% of the factories’ combined payroll -- had accepted a company buyout plan.
Parent Nissan Motor Co., whose aggressive cost cutting led it to relocate its North American headquarters and 1,300 jobs from Gardena to Nashville last year, initially said it expected about 300 of the 6,200 factory workers to take the buyouts.
Buyouts have been rare among Japanese automakers with U.S. factories. Nissan said it wanted to trim the manufacturing payroll in Tennessee because sales of labor-intensive light trucks built there were falling at the same time productivity had increased because of advances in manufacturing technology.
Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn recently cited a slump in U.S. sales, especially in sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks, as one reason the company’s global profit was likely to fall this year after six successive annual increases.
The company’s Smyrna facility, 25 miles southeast of Nashville, is its principal North American assembly plant and had 5,200 employees. The engine plant, with 1,000 workers, is in Decherd, about 95 miles southeast of Nashville.
The Smyrna plant manufactures Nissan Altima and Maxima passenger cars, Nissan Frontier pickups and Nissan Xterra and Pathfinder SUVs. The Decherd facility produces engines for Nissan and Infiniti vehicles built in the United States.
Nissan said 681 workers in Smyrna and 94 in Decherd signed up for the buyouts. The company said that even with fewer workers it could increase passenger car production in Smyrna.
Employees were offered a $45,000 lump-sum payment plus $500 for each year of service to walk away from their jobs.
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