Isuzu Motors Ltd. plans to cut costs by slashing 9,000 jobs over the next three years, reducing its 38,000-strong group workforce by 25 percent, company sources said.
Yoshinori Ida, president of the financially troubled truck-making affiliate of General Motors Corp. of the United States, will announce a reconstruction plan on Monday, the sources said Saturday.
The firm had originally planned to cut 3,000 jobs. The 25 percent cut would be larger than the 14 percent cuts planned by Nissan Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp., which are eyeing personnel cutbacks of 21,000 and 9,500 respectively.
The planned reduction will be achieved by curbing new recruits and encouraging early retirement.
Under the reconstruction plan, Isuzu, which is 49 percent owned by GM, plans to close its main truck manufacturing plant in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, reduce domestic production and trim costs for parts procurement, the sources said.
The nation's economic downturn has hit Isuzu hard. The company's domestic truck sales have fallen drastically in the past decade, and it is believed the firm and its affiliates marked their third straight year of pretax losses in the fiscal year ended March 31.
Isuzu hopes to lower costs by working closely with GM parts suppliers, while expanding sales of diesel engines made at a factory in Poland to its U.S. partner, according to the sources.
The automaker hopes to reduce much of its estimated 1 trillion yen in debts and is considering selling its headquarters building in Tokyo's Shinagawa district, according to the sources.
Isuzu has announced it will carry out a management shakeup in June, replacing its chief executive and naming a former GM officer as vice president.