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Nissan denies lay-off report
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September 24, 1999: 7:34 a.m. ET
Automaker says no plans are final; French magazine says 30,000 jobs to go
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Nissan Motor Co. issued a weak denial of a report that it was planning to cut around a fifth of its work force, but it stopped short of ruling out widespread lay-offs.
The Japanese automaker is planning to ax 30,000 employees in a move that will decimate white collar staff and lead to the closure of a factory in the Tokyo suburbs, according to the French magazine L'Expansion.
Nissan questioned the validity of the report but did little to quash speculation about job reductions.
"There is no factual basis to the story. We believe the reporter was just speculating and we cannot comment on our restructuring plan as it is still under consideration," a Nissan spokesman said.
The struggling company is currently subject of a review process led by chief operating officer Carlos Ghosn, the former Renault deputy chairman, who was sent over by the French carmaker after it acquired a 37 percent stake in Nissan in May.
Renault declined comment on the report. Ghosn is due to present his restructuring proposals to the Nissan board in October.
Ghosn believes he had no choice but to make drastic cuts to turn around the company, according to the L'Expansion report.
"The numbers (of job cuts) being discussed inside the group are on a scale unknown in a country where employment is guaranteed for life," the French magazine said.
Ghosn, who earned the reputation as a cost-killer for his part in closing Renault's Vilvoorde plant in Belgium, told Nissan shareholders in June that he had come to Japan "not for the good of Renault, but for the good of Nissan."
-- from staff and wire reports
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