Nissan North America announced this morning it will cut production of trucks and SUV’s at its Tennessee plants. The company has also asked its manufacturing employees to consider the richest buyout package it’s ever offered.
Employees at the assembly plant in Smyrna and the engine plant in Dechert will be eligible for a lump-sum payment of up to 125-thousand dollars. They’ll have to make a decision by September 12th.
Nissan spokesman Fred Standish says the target is higher than the 775 workers who took a voluntary buyout last year.
“Right now we figure we have about 1200 excess employees.”
Nissan also announced today it will end the night shift producing trucks at the Smyrna plant, which employs 55-hundred workers. The slow-down is scheduled for August 11th and is a result of consumers buying more fuel efficient vehicles. Nissan has cut truck building in Canton, Mississipi too, but has countered by adding a shift assembling the fuel-efficient Altima at that plant.
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