By Dino Ray Directo III

THE Philippine unit of Japan?s Nissan Motor is trimming its labor force by 15 percent and has adopted a five-day workweek as part of a global cost-cutting program.

Nissan Motor Philippines? belt-tightening policy means its top executives are foregoing car plans and foreign trips, according to Raymond Tribdino, sales and marketing manager.

At least 50 of the 340-strong work force had accepted a voluntary retirement package effective Feb. 15, Tribdino said.

Most of the 50 retiring employees are office-based, and two of them are senior managers from the manufacturing and engineering departments.

?With the current organizational setup, those who were retained are doing as many as quadruple jobs,? Tribdino said. ?Majority of them voluntarily availed of the retirement package.?

A labor representative said the retirement package would be paid in installments over a one-year period. ?This is OK with us considering that [Nissan] is really hard- up. We understand the situation,? she said.

Nissan, 60-percent owned by Yulon Motor of Taiwan, had also reduced its work days to five from six and adopted a no-overtime policy since it ran into difficulties early this year, Tribdino said.

In another cost-cutting move, Nissan also deferred the expansion of its vehicle lineup and the launch of the new Teana, an executive sedan scheduled for release next month.

All executive car plans had been ditched and foreign trips discouraged. Given the circumstances, Nissan might not be able to send a contingent to this year?s Tokyo Motor Show, Tribdino said.

Despite the dark clouds hanging over Nissan?s Sta. Rosa facility, its passenger car variants Sentra and Grand Livina were doing well, he said.

?These two vehicles are our cash cows,? Tribdino said. The Sentra was a favorite of pharmaceutical firms and taxi cab operators for their low cost and reliability, he said.

Nissan Japan required its global units to cut costs after it sank into a loss for the fiscal third quarter and forecast its first full-year loss in nearly a decade early this week. Japan?s third-biggest automaker also announced it was slashing 20,000 jobs, or 8.5 percent of its global work force.

?The global auto industry is in turmoil, and Nissan is no exception,? chief executive Carlos Ghosn told reporters in Tokyo.

Nissan Motor now expect a 265-billion-yen ($2.9-billion) net loss for the fiscal year through March?the first time in nine years it?s tumbling into an annual loss.

The maker of the Z sports car chalked up a loss of 83.2 billion yen for the October to December period, a reversal from the P132.2-billion-yen profit it earned the same period the previous year. That was its first quarterly net loss since it began reporting quarterly earnings in 2003. with AP