Nissan Truck-Making Subsidiary to Close Plant, Cut More Jobs

TOKYO (AP) — An ailing truck-making subsidiary of Nissan Motor Co. will shut down an assembly plant in Japan and cut about 25 percent of its work force in a stepped-up restructuring drive, a major Japanese newspaper said Thursday.

Nissan Diesel Motor Co. will close its Gunma plant in fiscal 1999 and release about 3,000 employees from its group work force, higher than the 2,500 previously announced, the Nihon Keizai

inancial daily said.

Officials of Nissan Diesel and its parent automaker were not available for comment today, a Japanese national holiday.

The newspaper said more aggressive retrenching at Nissan Diesel is expected to put struggling Nissan Motor in a stronger position in ongoing negotiations with DaimlerChrysler AG over a possible

apital alliance.

DaimlerChrysler reportedly also is considering buying a stake in Nissan Diesel, nearly 40 percent of which is owned by Nissan Motor, Japan's second-largest automaker.

Juergen Schrempp, co-chairman of DaimlerChrysler, and Nissan Motor president Yoshikazu Hanawa met last month in Tokyo. Both said the companies were discussing a possible alliance but would not elaborate.

Nissan is struggling to survive under a debt load totaling an estimated $22.2 billion. The company has lost money in five of the past six years.