Nissan Motor Thailand’s representative said that they cannot confirm or deny reports that the car manufacturer is looking to lay off at least 300 employees and shut down some of its Thai operations.
The Nissan representative told Thai Enquirer that the company wanted to wait until the end of May before providing any further clarification or detail on its future plans.
Nissan and other original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in Thailand have chosen to temporarily close down some of their manufacturing facilities amid the coronavirus pandemic. They are due to reopen at the end of May.
Local reports, citing an anonymous source from within Nissan Motor Thailand, said that the company is paying 85-100 per cent of their employees’ wages, even though one of its factories is shut down.
They are asking some of their employees to quit voluntarily, according to the source.
On May 7, the company also decided against renewing the contracts of 300 employees. The company currently hires approximately 5,000 employees in Thailand.
A spokesperson for the Federation of Thai Industry (FTI)’s Automotive Club, Surapong Paisitpatanapong told Thai Enquirer that the country’s car production could be cut in half from 2 million in 2019 to 1 million in 2020 due to the slowdown in domestic and global demand.
The local reports were also fuelled by the news that some dealers have recently opted to lower prices to get rid of old stock.
Mitsubishi
The unconfirmed reports regarding Nissan followed on the heels of Mitsubishi Motor’s announcement of its early retirement program on Wednesday.
The severance packages for the early retirement program include 8-35 months of wages, depending on the employee’s age and seniority.
Employees that choose to quit voluntarily and take the compensation will still be eligible for the company’s retainment program, the company statement added.
Nikkei Asian Review reported in April that the company was seeking a loan worth US$2.8 billion to cope with the drop in sales. They said the outbreak has severely affected the demand for cars.
Mitsubishi makes around 400,000 vehicles per year in Thailand, making them the second-largest carmaker in the country. They also employ around 7,000 people.
Its sales, however, dropped by around 30 per cent in the first quarter of 2020.
[Photo Credit: Nissan Motors Thailand]
