Japan's Nissan Motor is offering buyouts to workers and cutting back shifts at three U.S. factories, a company spokesperson said on Thursday, as the automaker pushes to slash $2.6 billion in costs globally.

Nissan Motor Co. is eliminating a work shift at two US vehicle assembly plants and trimming its hourly staff via buyouts, a downsizing to align its output with lower sales volumes as it mulls a possible sale to Honda Motor Co.

SMYRNA, Tenn. (WZTV) — Nissan has confirmed that its plants in Smyrna, Canton, and Decherd will experience job cuts. The company stated it would initially seek volunteers for the layoffs, offering severance packages to those who opt-in.

Nissan failed to mention exactly when the plants will return to two shifts. However, the Smyrna site will start to build a plug-in hybrid Rogue in 2027, and this will require a second shift. The Canton site will also go back to a two-shift schedule and handle the production of an EV, likely arriving in 2028.

The company is not planning for involuntary layoffs and is part of its initiative to cut down global costs by $2.6bn.

NEW YORK -- Nissan Motor is offering buyouts to workers at three U.S. factories, Nikkei has learned, as part of the Japanese automaker's plans to cut production in the country by around 25% amid sluggish sales.