Nissan Cuts 9,000 Jobs and Slashes C.E.O.’s Pay in Half

The Japanese automaker is carving deep cuts in its global operations as it struggles with a steep drop in sales.

Nissan Motor said Thursday that it was planning deep cuts to its global operations as it seeks to reorient its business and recover ground lost in the growing markets for hybrid and electric vehicles in China and the United States.

The Japanese automaker said that it would slash 9,000 jobs and reduce its global production capacity by 20 percent. Nissan’s chief executive, Makoto Uchida, will take a 50 percent pay cut in his monthly compensation, the company added.

The moves come as Nissan reported on Thursday that global sales declined across its core markets — North America, China, and Japan — in the first half of its fiscal year. Nissan’s operating profit fell 90 percent, to $214 million, during the April-September period.

Like many of its peers, including Ford Motor in the United States and Volkswagen in Germany, Nissan has struggled to keep pace with rapidly changing consumer preferences in some of the world’s largest car markets.

In China, growing demand for electric vehicles is being largely met by local brands such as BYD, which have churned out low-cost models tailored to the domestic market. The shift has displaced many traditional automakers, including Volkswagen, which had long dominated sales there.

In the United States, electric vehicle sales growth has slowed in recent years, but consumers are increasingly opting for hybrid gas-electric vehicles. This has provided a boost for Toyota, but has hurt sales for automakers like General Motors and Nissan, which lack similar offerings.

“We cannot deny that our sales plan was overstretched given the rapid changes in the market,” Mr. Uchida said in a briefing on Thursday. Nissan’s sales performance has “demonstrated an inability to cater to customer needs in a timely manner.”

Acknowledging the “great responsibility felt on his shoulders,” Mr. Uchida said he and other Nissan executives would take voluntary pay cuts starting this month.

The resources freed up by cost reductions will be used to bolster Nissan’s E.V. lineup in China and hybrid offerings in the United States, Mr. Uchida said. To reduce lead times, the company plans to leverage partnerships, including its recent tie-up with Honda.

Through the fiscal year ending in March, Nissan estimates it will sell 3.4 million vehicles globally, down from its previous forecast of 3.65 million. The company projects operating profit will fall to $973 million, compared with $3.7 billion the previous year.

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