Nissan Offers Voluntary Buyouts in Tennessee
SMYRNA, Tennessee — For the second time in a year, Nissan Motor Company is offering voluntary buyout packages to its U.S. workers. To counter a dramatic decline in sales of trucks and SUVs, the Japanese automaker said Wednesday it would provide lump-sum payments of up to $125,000 to workers at its Smyrna assembly and Decherd powertrain plants in Tennessee.
Nissan employs 6,600 hourly and salaried workers at the two Tennessee plants and is hoping to reduce its workforce by about 18 percent, or roughly 1,200 employees.
Depending on their tenure, workers are being offered payments of $100,000 or $125,000, plus medical and vehicle-purchase benefits. They can elect to take a buyout in 2008, 2009 or 2010, but benefits diminish each year.
Nissan also said it would eliminate night-shift truck production at the Smyrna plant, beginning August 11. The factory builds the Frontier pickup, Xterra and Pathfinder SUVs, Maxima sedan and Altima sedan and coupe.
The company previously announced it would eliminate one shift of truck production in Canton, Mississippi, while adding a third shift of Altima sedan production.
What this means to you: Nissan was the first Japanese automaker to build a competitive full-size pickup — a gamble that now appears may never pay off. — Paul Lienert, Correspondent